


Hitch

by 1Strategy_Renee1



Category: Sanditon (TV 2019), Sanditon - Jane Austen, Welcome to Sanditon
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-18
Updated: 2020-09-08
Packaged: 2021-03-05 05:48:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 27
Words: 61,287
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25269376
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/1Strategy_Renee1/pseuds/1Strategy_Renee1
Summary: A modern-day murder in Sanditon has residents and rich visitors on edge in this fashionable resort town where everyone is a suspect.
Relationships: Charlotte Heywood/Sidney Parker, Lord Babington/Esther Denham
Comments: 557
Kudos: 432





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi - thanks for clicking on my story. Most especially, thank you (which is not enough to say) to everyone who has been so amazingly supportive of my other stories!! You have no idea how much it means (and if I could figure out how to put a heart emoji here I would). I thought I should perhaps share a few things:  
> 1\. I write these stories in my head while I run in the morning (I don't use headphones because I run at three or four a.m. and that really doesn't seem safe). That said, I want to apologize if it resembles any other stories out there. That is not my intent, but I've just not read everything.  
> 2\. This is much darker than Landed (maybe not as dark or maybe is as others) so apologies upfront--but am committed to the HEA!!  
> 3\. I challenged myself with my last story to write a chapter a day (or more) and post it. Because of some work stuff, I most likely will not be able to keep that pace. I'm sorry upfront.  
> 4\. I have no real idea of how to fill in the relationships and info stuff on the summary page of this site. Seriously, I am actually tech-savvy, but I screw up every time. And I'm kinda thinking most of this up as I go along, so I'm not quite sure who will appear :)
> 
> Thanks! and I'm sorry if this isn't to your liking. I'll try better next time :)

Sidney’s look told her not to follow as he accompanied Detective Stringer and the two officers to the parking lot and into the waiting squad car. She hoped her eyes were conveying her love for him and not her fear for and perhaps of him. You see, Charlotte knew in her heart that Sidney could never kill anyone, but her head wasn’t quite as certain.

*****

_One month earlier_

Charlotte was not happy to be in Sanditon. She was tired of rich people and was frustrated with the way the entire first month had gone. “I should have fucking quit before coming here,” she muttered to herself as she tried to zip up her new uniform—an ocean blue cocktail dress for tonight’s party. It was always the last inch she struggled with and was trying to decide whether or not she should just ask one of the guys on the dock for help, which she knew was a very bad idea.

She needed to calm down. Tonight was important and she had to admit the strategy was spot on. Rich people who spend their lives on yachts sailing the world care about the beauty of the oceans. She and her colleagues were focused on maintaining healthy oceans; hence these people could give money to help. “They waste enough of it, so why not put it to some good use,” she told herself as she tried again, finally getting her dress zipped.

Charlotte looked in the mirror and questioned what she was doing. She was top of her class, was the youngest ever to achieve a PhD in marine biology from Yestwood, and now was trying to fix her sun-kissed brown locks into something that was appropriate for a society party. She actually never really attended these types of parties until working for Ocean Funds and she felt completely out of her element. She was much happier in the water—preferably alone—but every scientist was required to work a season to raise money and it was now Charlotte’s turn to be the bait for head fundraiser Clara Brereton. Clara was masterful in how she wooed money from her targets and when asked a difficult question, she’d introduce the young and pretty scientist Charlotte to answer.

Sanditon was a newer hot spot. While it had long been a successful fishing then resort and boating town, it had most recently become quite the destination for the yachting set thanks to the Parker family, specifically the ambitions of one Tom Parker, who was part-owner of the Sanditon Resort and Yacht Club. Charlotte had met him a few times and thought him to have a good heart, even though he seemed to hold maybe too much value in the opinion of the well healed. His wife, Mary, was lovely and Charlotte always felt comfortable in her company. Mary was very levelheaded and didn’t seem to be as impressed by the trappings of the rich as her husband was. Charlotte could usually cling to Mary at some of these events, but tonight Tom and Mary had a commitment with their children and neither wouldn’t be in attendance.

Charlotte needed to be at the resort in 15 minutes—she was most certainly going to be late. It was quite a hike to the resort from her small apartment that overlooked the less appealing area of the docks—and in heels, it was unimaginable. She thought of taking her bike, but that probably wouldn’t be the best option in that dress or to take on the twisting cliff roads at night. As she considered possibly just texting Clara and claiming to be sick, a text popped up from Clara. _I’m outside. Get your cute little sciencey butt out here now!_

*****

Charlotte stared out the window taking in the beauty of the coastline as Clara droned on about the top targets for the nights. “You’ve already impressed the Babingtons—but they are long-time supporters so that’s low-hanging fruit. We need some new money and I heard that there could be some big fish at tonight’s gathering so stay close,” Clara said, giving orders as she always did.

“10 o’clock,” was all Charlotte said.

Clara rolled her eyes. “Parties don’t really get started until after 10 and really Charlotte, how old are you?”

“10 o’clock or stop the car now and let me out,” Charlotte demanded.

“Fine,” Clara said resignedly, then continued to detail her strategy for the night.

*****

It was a beautiful night and at least the terrace of the club provided amazing views, which distracted Charlotte as Clara made the rounds pulling her behind. Clara masterfully remembered everyone’s name, as well as the names of their boats, their wives, and, in a few cases, their mistresses. Charlotte remained silent, nursing her tonic water and smiling lightly as several older men indirectly propositioned her. Clara had already warned that if Charlotte slapped another would-be donor there would be hell to pay and that meant Charlotte losing her research funding. Charlotte hated this entire scene and spent most of the night glancing at her watch, counting down the minutes until 10.

“Yes! 9:59,” Charlotte said to herself and put her tonic water on the table next to her before she set off to find a now missing Clara.

Before Charlotte could take a step, “Charlotte, Charlotte,” Clara all but shouted, walking toward her with a rather stunning woman and her three male companions. The woman stopped and stood directly in front of Charlotte, a bit too close for Charlotte’s liking, while her companions mulled around, not seeming able to stand still.

“Eliza Campion, please meet Dr. Charlotte Heywood, she’s our resident expert and is happy to answer any questions,” said Clara much too gleefully. 

Charlotte knew about Eliza—for Clara, Eliza was the white whale. Recently widowed, Eliza was extremely wealthy and made large donations on a whim. Clara had heard rumors that Eliza may make her way to Sanditon this year after a fairly long absence—it was rumored her late husband was not a fan—and Clara had been keeping an eye out at every gathering.

Considering how important this was to Clara, Charlotte decided to make more of an effort. She smiled broadly and extended her hand to Eliza who was simply striking with her perfect long blond hair and signature Hermès kerchief tied tightly around her neck. She remembered how Clara had talked about that being Eliza’s look and if any woman had a similar scarf when Eliza was in the room, they’d remove it quickly and hide it in their purse.

Eliza took Charlotte’s hand lightly and released it quickly. “So you’re the one whose little boat was in my slip?” Eliza asked, cheerfully condescending.

Charlotte was confused, “we have a small research vessel that is supposed to be docked in an unleased spot,” she started, seeing Clara give her a disapproving look. “We’ll move it immediately,” Charlotte said smiling, trying to please Clara. Charlotte picked up her tonic water and took a long drink.

“We’ve already had it moved—I think you’ll have a bit of a game of hide and seek to find it,” Eliza looked at her companions and they laughed. “You’ll have to tell me about your little organization at our next get together,” she said, leading her companions away.

Clara began to follow and Charlotte grabbed her arm. “We need to go, Clara,” Charlotte said, exhausted by all of this.

“Eliza has invited me to join her at an afterparty—come with me,” Clara said, excited.

Charlotte shook her head.

“She is the biggest of fishes and this is a huge opportunity,” Clara said. She looked at Charlotte seeing she would not budge then started to walk away, turning back to say, “grab a ride home.”

Charlotte watched Clara quickly catch up to Eliza’s group and head to the parking lot. It was 10:15 and Charlotte knew she really needed to leave. The sharks were coming out and she wanted nothing to do with it. Charlotte learned early that being at a “society” party after 10 was dangerous because that was the time when the rich started looking to end the polite party, claim their meal for the night, and make their way to the afterparty. She had no desire to be in the bed of anyone there.

As she reached into her bag to find her phone to arrange a ride, she knew something wasn’t quite right. Charlotte started to feel disoriented and her vision became clouded. She leaned against the wall, trying to assess the symptoms, looking around for help at the now fairly thinned out crowd. She felt a hand on her lower back, pushing her toward a door through which she knew was a secluded corridor—she had made her way through it before during parties to sneak out the employee entrance without Clara knowing.

Charlotte seemed to have no control of her body as she was led through the doorway. She felt her back hit the wall, her head taking a minor blow. A man was close to her, and she could feel his breath on her neck, his hands moving over her body then down her sides, lifting up the hem of her dress. Charlotte didn’t even have the power to raise her eyes to see his face and was just staring at the buttons of his blue shirt.

“Just tell me ‘no’ and I’ll stop,” he whispered.

Charlotte tried but couldn’t speak, it was as if she had lost all control and realized she must have been drugged—but how? She kept repeating to herself, “stay awake, fight, stay awake…” Suddenly, the man’s hands were off her and there was a loud crash. All went dark. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the encouragement! A short chapter--but forward progress :)

Sidney hated these parties and this was most certainly not where he wanted to be on his first day back in Sanditon. He’d rather still be with the group of old craftsmen who were advising him on how to restore his boat. He had spent the day reviewing classic varnishes and stains and doing some testing—even with a hot shower, his hands still slightly smelled from the chemicals.

Sidney had been nursing the same drink for the past hour and had successfully managed to hide in a secluded spot on the terrace, avoiding any conversation beyond a nod. He was not happy with what Sanditon was becoming. While he couldn’t deny the profitability of the new direction, he was not a fan of these people and the malice they brought to the small town. The resort was his brother Tom’s domain though, and Sidney needed to respect it. While Sidney was a significant investor, Sidney’s primary Sanditon holdings were the hundreds of hectares of open land that protected the wildlife and the beach. The bulk of his investments were elsewhere. He had yet to see Tom and while Sidney most certainly loved Tom, Mary and the children—Tom’s constant requests to expand the resort and the town on his land were not only exhausting but highly annoying. 

It was getting late and Sidney needed to check in with Diana—the only reason he was there. He had a debt he owed her that he would never be able to fully repay. Even on this warm night, he shivered recalling that time some five years earlier when he nearly failed his younger sister completely.

At that time, Sanditon had just started making its name among the social elite and Diana was desperate to attend the yacht parties. Sidney’s brother Arthur never really trusted that crowd and typically served as her chaperone, but he needed to be in London that weekend. Sidney gave his word that he’d keep an eye on Diana but had become distracted by his fifth drink and the redhead he planned to take home for the night. It wasn’t until he saw Arthur’s text that he realized anything was wrong— _Sidney, thanks for covering. Sorry to miss it. Send a pic of you and Di!_

After some drunken stumbling and pushing his way into staterooms, he found Diana passed out, half-naked with a much older man readying himself to take his pleasure. Sidney brutally leveled the man—leaving him hospitalized for a time. A sordid combination of the man’s obscene wealth, Sidney’s vicious attack, and the desire to keep Diana’s name from scandal eliminated any official charges, but Sidney’s reputation as a violent man was secured with the local authorities. Diana had forgiven him long ago, and even though she had narrowly escaped, Sidney would never forgive himself.

After that horrible night, Diana appointed herself something of a guardian at these parties, keeping her eye out for those who might become victims. She’d step in and arrange for cabs home for young inebriated locals or would join their intimate conversations to slyly ask a potential "shark" about a spouse. Diana did not make her efforts obvious—she didn’t want to lose her access or the trust of these people, for if she did, she wouldn’t be able to help the innocent. Most people thought Diana was somewhat flighty, but Sidney knew she was one of the smartest people around.

Diana typically had Arthur with her, but Sidney was her companion tonight—exactly who she needed as she watched what looked to be a confused young woman being taken to an off-limits area. As Sidney approached Diana looking to leave, she gave him a knowing look then glanced toward the door. He knew exactly what she meant. Sidney quickly made his way to the doorway. It was wickedly dark, but as he opened the door and the light showed briefly on Charlotte’s face, Sidney knew immediately something was wrong. He grabbed and crushed the man's hand and with three swift blows, Sidney had the man unconscious on the ground.

Sidney grabbed Charlotte as she slid down the wall to the floor. He felt for a pulse, it was slowing. He quickly dialed Diana – “Get your car, employee entrance now!”

Sidney stood concealed in the shadows of the entrance with Charlotte in his arms waiting—studying her face, watching each breath. It would be faster for Diana to take her to the emergency room rather than to wait for the town’s lone ambulance. He quickly fastened Charlotte in the passenger seat and told Diana, “go now and keep my name out of it. I know I broke some of his fingers and I might have broken his jaw.”

Sidney watched as Diana quickly drove away, angry as he thought, “damn it—doesn’t that woman know how dangerous these people are. She’s a fucking angelfish among sharks.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for your comments! I appreciate the feedback and encouragement! Sorry, there are dark spots, there will be light!

As Charlotte opened her eyes, she was blinded by the bright lights of the emergency room. Her head hurt and she felt nauseous.

“Ah, you’re awake,” Diana grasped Charlotte’s hand lightly and smiled. Diana had met Charlotte through Mary earlier that month when they had taken the children to visit her boat and learn about her research. Diana didn’t realize it was her until Sidney placed her in the car. The Charlotte at the party in her cocktail dress looked completely different than the woman she had met on the docks—diving suit, broad smile, her hair wild in the wind. She desperately liked Charlotte from the start and felt so horrible for how Charlotte must be feeling now. “You are going to be fine,” Diana said, nodding repeatedly.

Charlotte was trying to piece things together when Dr. Fuchs entered. In a very caring manner, he explained they indeed had found a variation of GHB in her system and she was very lucky they caught it so fast. “You ingested quite a lot for your size,” he said, checking the nurse’s chart. “We’ll do another test but I think it would be good for you to spend the night with us and tomorrow you’ll need to rest—is there anyone you can stay with?”

“She’ll stay with me,” Diana said decidedly. “I’ll watch over her.” This wasn’t the first time Diana had brought in someone for help following a party and Dr. Fuchs saw her as something of the town’s guardian angel.

“May I,” Detective James Stringer asked as he entered the room. “I’m sorry to interrupt—and I know it’s a difficult time—but it’s best to get a statement as soon as possible.” Stringer was a life-long resident of Sanditon and had recently been promoted to detective on the town’s small police force. He found that his primary job was dealing with issues stemming from the resort and yacht crowd—and anything to do with a Parker, he was there. 

Following a few introductions, Charlotte found there was little to say. The last thing she remembered was needing to arrange for a ride. After that, everything was just feelings and images—a blue shirt, tall man. And then the feeling of someone else and being carried, of feeling safe and the smell of her grandfather.

“Being carried?” Stringer asked.

“She’s confused,” Diana interrupted. “I must have scared the man away and when I found Charlotte, I walked her to my car and drove her here.”

Both Stringer and Dr. Fuchs looked at Diana with more than some disbelief. The doctor knew with the drugs in Charlotte’s system she most likely could not walk more than five steps. And Stringer had known and liked Diana for years and could easily see when she was lying. Stringer felt it was late enough and was confident Diana wouldn’t budge from her story tonight.

Stringer handed Charlotte his card and exited the room, giving Diana an expressive look. He knew Sidney was back in town and was fairly confident it was Sidney that helped Charlotte but understood why Diana wanted the questions to stop. Before Stringer had been promoted to detective, he had heard the rumblings of something involving Diana and, without permission or authority, had reviewed the files about Sidney’s assault on Diana’s near rapist before they were destroyed. No matter what the law said, Stringer was most certainly on Sidney’s side on that one as Stringer had long held warm feelings for Diana. In fact, Stringer wasn’t quite sure that he’d be able to stop himself with just a beating.

For what it was worth—he was happy it was Diana and Sidney at the party this evening. If Tom were there, all of this most certainly would have been swept under the rug. As Stringer left the hospital, there were two things he felt fairly confident of. The first was that Charlotte was most likely not the first nor the last that this would happen to this season. The second was that in looking for her assailant, Stringer was most definitely on the hunt for someone who had been beaten--and rightfully so.

*****

Sidney returned to the corridor, hoping the man was still passed out. He had been in such a hurry to help Charlotte, that he didn’t think to restrain or even take the man’s identification. It had been too dark and everything had happened quickly. Sidney could barely see the outline of the man’s face although he thought there was something familiar. The man was nowhere to be seen—all that was left was Charlotte’s purse, its contents spilled out over the floor.

Sidney gathered up her things and looked around, trying to find anything that may have belonged to her assailant, but there was nothing. He also noticed a conspicuous lack of security cameras given how prevalent they were in other parts of the resort. Sidney would talk to Tom about that tomorrow as well as the need for medical personnel onsite, at least through the season. Tonight he just wanted to ice his hands and get some rest. He’d return Charlotte’s purse to Diana in the morning.

*****

Charlotte could taste the anger in her mouth. While she was eternally grateful to Diana for all she had done for her, Charlotte had no desire to lay on a couch all day. She wanted to find out who did this to her and…and…well, she didn’t know exactly what she’d do to him, but she wanted to make him hurt.

Diana could see her guest’s desire to leave but was adamant about her staying there all day. When Charlotte did try to get up, she found she still felt a bit woozy and complied. Diana’s small cottage overlooking the ocean was simply beautiful and Charlotte did feel comfortable there. For all the supposed wealth of the Parker clan, she was surprised to see Diana live somewhat humbly and enjoyed the mismatched cups and saucers when she served Charlotte tea.

Charlotte also enjoyed all the pictures framed over the couch where she rested—near her head was one of Diana and a fairly handsome man with the most beautiful smile. Charlotte rarely thought about how people looked and marked how his image made her feel happy, hopeful and safe. They were both in front of a small sailboat—Diana in a swimsuit, he in an old faded red t-shirt and shorts. “Who is this?” Charlotte asked.

“Oh that’s just Sidney,” Diana smiled, getting Charlotte a blanket.

Charlotte began to doze off and thought to herself what a cute couple Diana and Sidney made.

*****

Sidney spent most of the morning doing errands and was much later than he planned. He didn’t expect to find Charlotte sleeping on Diana’s couch when he opened the door without knocking—a habit both he and Diana knew they probably should break someday. He stood for a moment watching Charlotte sleep. She had the blanket tucked tightly around her and the first thing he thought was that he hoped she felt safe. Sidney was someone who liked to be in control and couldn’t imagine being under someone else’s power like she was the night before. He put her purse on the table and rubbed his soar hands, unexplainedly feeling in that moment that he had to do anything he could to protect her.

Diana found Sidney in the living room and quickly ushered him into the kitchen where she gave him an update on the night’s events and what she rightfully concluded were Stringer’s assumptions about Sidney’s involvement. As protective as Sidney was of Diana, she was even more so of him and knew the authorities didn’t need any more fuel against him. Since the incident with her on the yacht all those years ago--even though it was supposed to be all kept confidential--Sidney carried a reputation of violence. Yes, he could take care of himself, but he never sought a fight. 

Diana had more to share with Sidney and was terribly worried about his response. She led him from the kitchen outside to the patio. She stood overlooking the ocean for a bit before she spoke. “Did you know she was back?” she asked quietly.

“No,” he said, fully understanding that Diana’s quiet demeanor was intended to calm him at the thought of Eliza.

“I saw her from a distance yesterday at the party,” Diana started. “I understand she intends to stay for much of the season.”

Sidney took a deep breath and braced himself for the two images that always came to mind when someone mentioned Eliza’s name. The first was when they were seventeen and sailing—she sat in a white tank top and jean shorts at the bow of the boat, her blond hair in the wind, her smile wide and her blue eyes laughing. It was all hope then, and pure joy. The second was the image of her in their bed years later with her soon-to-be husband thrusting into her and how, when seeing Sidney enter the room, she lifted her hips to pull him in deeper then smiled the most perverse smile at Sidney. It was as if the pleasure she had wasn’t from the sex, it was from hurting Sidney. He was so fully destroyed, he just walked out and never came back.

Sidney lost himself for a number of years—trying to numb the pain and black out the memories. He became isolated and relished sports that punished his body--from extreme fighting, boxing, and free climbing to open water swimming. He pushed himself beyond normal limits and put himself in some risky situations. And to ease the pain he inflicted on himself, he'd drink beyond normal limits as well. It wasn’t until that night with Diana and the death of his friend in Antigua shortly after that he started to right himself. Seeing the peril he caused Diana and his new responsibility as guardian to his friend’s teen-aged daughter, Georgiana, made Sidney rethink his future path.

Diana turned to Sidney and put her hand on his shoulder, bringing him back into the here and now. They both knew the depths he had fallen after that day when a young and hopeful love somehow turned so wicked and cruel.

“Don’t worry Diana,” he said, taking her hand in his. “Eliza doesn’t hold that power over me any longer.” Sidney truly hoped those words were true.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading -- a bit of building to do :)

Charlotte was startled awake by the thought, and said it aloud, “where the hell is my boat!” She had suddenly remembered Eliza’s words about moving it and was filled with horror that her research was lost. Still a bit lightheaded, Charlotte forced herself off the couch and padded her way to the kitchen for a glass of water. She eagerly downed the first glass and was in the process of refilling another when she witnessed a tender hug between Diana and Sidney out on the patio. She looked at his strong arms embracing her and couldn’t turn away. Sidney’s eyes met Charlotte’s, and she immediately felt like she had trespassed on a very private moment. There would be no escaping this awkwardness as Diana and Sidney made their way quickly into the kitchen.

“What are you doing up?” Diana asked, acting something like a mother hen trying to shoo Charlotte back to the couch.

“I so appreciate everything you’ve done, and thank you for lending me the clothes, but I really need to go—I need to find my purse and find my boat,” Charlotte said, tucking the too large t-shirt into her borrowed shorts.

Sidney noted how tiny she looked in Diana’s clothes. “Your boat?” Sidney asked, somewhat disbelieving, not taking her for the yacht crowd.

“Yes, it has all of my research,” she said, taking the rubber band from her wrist and tying up her hair into a messy bun. “That horrible woman last night said it was parked in her slip and they moved it. For all I know, that rich twat sunk it.”

That was most certainly not the language Sidney expected from someone who looked so…innocent, was the only word he could come up with, and smiled to himself.

Charlotte was clearly determined to leave and Diana knew what it was to try to talk someone out of that mode. Diana retrieved Charlotte’s purse and handed it to her. “At least we have the answer on your purse.” Diana took a step closer to Charlotte. “I really don’t want you to be alone finding your boat—Sidney knows the harbor, he’ll take you and help you get everything settled and make sure you get home safe, unless you want to stay here, which I would very much love,” she said with a genuine and concerned look.

Diana didn’t even look at Sidney, she knew he’d follow her order when he heard it. “So you’ll talk to Tom then about the security today,” Sidney asked Diana as he retrieved his keys from the kitchen counter.

“Yes, I’ll most certainly deal with it,” Diana said, with a resolute look.

*****

Charlotte was a bit out of step as she followed Sidney to his old jeep. The doorless 4X4 was Sidney’s vehicle of choice when in Sanditon—he could easily survey his land and also remain a bit inconspicuous as the town’s largest landowner. 

“I’m Sidney,” he said, offering a hand to help her up into the car. “And I assume you’re Charlotte—Diana isn’t terribly good with introductions,” he smiled, wanting to erase any thought in her mind that they had met the night before. “First stop, harbormaster?”

Charlotte nodded. She wasn’t in the habit of seeking or receiving help and was feeling more than a little out of sorts with all the aid she was receiving. She was also feeling embarrassed that now she was sitting next to someone she thought of as handsome who was also her friend’s boyfriend—he was wearing an outfit similar to the one she had seen in the picture and thought of his dark eyes and bright smile. She figured it must be some lingering effect of the drugs to have her thinking so randomly. If she could just focus on what was important, but that was still so hard to do right now. She looked out at the ocean one minute hoping her research was safe, then was distracted the next by Sidney’s hands on the steering wheel—they were cut and bruised. She had a strange feeling of knowing what it was like to be carried in his arms and was having trouble making sense of it all. She was hating how her mind was currently working, or more correctly, not working.

“What happened to your hands?” she asked. She was just thinking it and was surprised when she said the words aloud. She’d have to do a much better job of controlling herself, she thought.

“I’m restoring a boat,” he said, not a complete lie, although it wouldn’t arrive until tomorrow. It was a William Fife 125 classic sailing yacht built in 1911. He had his eye on a Fife for years and finally found one with great bones and only a few significant issues, which he had fixed in London before having it transported it down. Most everything else was cosmetic. He really liked the skilled craftsman he met with yesterday and looked forward to spending his free time this summer on the boat’s restoration.

Charlotte assumed he worked restoring boats and thought it nice that someone as wealthy as Diana dated someone so down to earth and apparently kind enough to help her.

They drove in silence for a while and Charlotte examined the contents of her bag—everything was there, money, ID—everything but her phone. “My phone is missing,” she said almost in a whisper, looking up at Sidney as if he’d know what to do. “I have no one’s numbers memorized—not even my dad’s new cell,” she shook her head. Charlotte knew her emotions were muddled right now and tried not to cry—she just suddenly had an overwhelming feeling of being totally alone wash over her and all of her anger and determination seemed to drain from her.

Sidney could see her shrinking and he remembered all the emotions Diana needed to work through after her incident. He pulled the car over to the side of the road and looked at her confidently. “It will all be okay,” he said, his eyes directly meeting hers. “First, we’ll find the boat, then we’ll contact the phone company,” he said assuredly. “See we have a plan, let’s focus on the boat for now,” he said and gave her a confident nod. “You’ve got this Charlotte, right?”

She hesitated a moment and responded more positively, “right.” Sidney reached over and quickly gave her an assuring pat on her hand, wondering if he overstepped, then turned his attention back to the road. Charlotte felt assured, her determination at least partially restored.

*****

It took some time as well as some heated then apologetic words between Sidney and the confused harbormaster who believed the request to move it had come directly from Charlotte, but they finally found where they had relocated her boat.

In Sidney’s opinion, that boat had clearly seen better days. It was a small vessel with a tight inside cabin and the Ocean Funds logo across the back. Charlotte quickly hopped on board and checked the equipment. She retrieved a hidden key and opened a storage compartment. “Everything is here,” Charlotte exhaled, smiling broadly.

It was the first time Sidney had seen her smile and he couldn’t stop watching her as she excitedly looked through every compartment, checking every journal. He knew she didn’t appear to be a party girl, but he didn’t expect this.

“What are you researching?” he asked, looking forward to her answer.

“The impact of ocean traffic sounds on whale migration and reproduction,” she said, not looking up at him. She was trying to decide if she should leave any of her research on the boat or take it to her apartment.

“Where should I ask the harbormaster to relocate your boat?” he asked, wanting to ensure she had everything tied off on this task before they conquered the next. This area of the docks was primarily local boats and could get a little bit more than crazy than the other areas. 

Charlotte looked around. She hadn’t paid attention to where they were and suddenly realized she could see her apartment windows. “Actually, this is perfect. I live right there,” she said, thinking maybe things were turning around. She secured all the materials, this time taking the key with her. She felt at least somewhat restored and was now starving.

“So on to the phone then?” Sidney asked, extending his hand to help her onto the dock. Charlotte slipped a bit in the jump and fell into his arms. They stood for a brief moment looking at each other, Charlotte again feeling like she had been there before.

“Tacos?” was all she could respond as she broke their gaze and their embrace.

Sidney gave her a quizzical look and a half-smile.

“I’m sorry, I just, I haven’t eaten and now am ravenous—there is a great taco place just over there—my treat to thank you for all your help,” she smiled sweetly as she reached up and released her hair, shaking it out lightly, the sun reflecting its golden highlights.

There was no way Sidney could resist such a tempting invitation.

*****

Sidney couldn’t remember being with a woman who ate so much, at least in front of him, and he loved it. Charlotte had three tacos down and was contemplating another. He liked how she seemed to be completely herself—something he didn’t see much in Sanditon lately. There were way too many people who were busy trying to impress or make others impress them. It was no longer the sweet town he remembered from his youth.

They talked for a while about her research and the health of the waters around Sanditon. She had a way of explaining things that made even the most technical topics accessible and Sidney liked hearing her talk. He didn’t want to ruin her happier mood and didn’t know if he should ask, but he wanted to understand how she was feeling. He again recalled the emotions Diana had after she was nearly attacked and worried that Charlotte was feeling a bit alone in all this. “How are you doing, really?” he asked softly, meeting her eyes with his. Sidney very much wanted Charlotte to consider him a friend.

She looked at Sidney a bit taken aback; “of course Diana would have told him about what had happened the night before – why would some strange woman be on her couch otherwise,” she thought to herself. Charlotte was a fairly private person and while she was most certainly grateful to him for helping her and had feelings that she really couldn’t explain, she wasn’t sure yet where or if he belonged anywhere in her life.

Charlotte looked at all the food wrappers and decided to avoid the question completely by smiling and saying, “oh, I’m all full now. Those tacos did the trick.” She then quickly started clearing things away.

Sidney considered pressing the topic, but before he could ask again, Charlotte started, “I’ve changed my mind—do you think you could help me carry some of my research from the boat to my apartment?”

Sidney nodded and smiled. She clearly didn’t want to talk about it. He hoped if she didn’t want to talk to him, that she would at least talk with someone.

*****

They managed everything in one trip. As Charlotte fumbled with the keys, Sidney spotted a phone on the floor. “I think I may have just found your phone,” he said, motioning with his head as Charlotte opened the door.

She balanced her things and leaned down to pick it up. “I know it was in my purse last night, I know it,” she said as she walked into her apartment and laid the research on the table. Unlocking the phone, she could see the battery was almost dead and could also see a text from her parents and one from Clara. Everything appeared to be fine.

Sidney immediately liked the apartment—it was simple, yet warm and he enjoyed how her work was spread about the place. It was like looking inside her mind and getting to know her thought process. He found himself wanting to stay a while to get to know her—a rather new feeling for Sidney. When he looked to her, he became concerned though with her confused demeanor. She repeated, “I know it was in my purse last night—seriously, I absolutely know it was. How did it get here?”

“Maybe it fell out yesterday and you just thought you had it,” he said, placing his hands on her shoulders to steady her. “It’s probably a good idea for you to get some more rest.”

Charlotte’s most immediate thought was how much she liked his hands on her—but it was quickly obviated by the knowledge that she didn’t like to be condescended to. “I know I had it,” she said, moving away from him to stand at the window. She took a deep breath—she didn’t need to have a fight with someone who she knew was simply trying to help and, in all truth, who she just met.

“Thank you for all your help today, I think it would be good to get some rest,” she said, taking steps toward the door to show him out.

He didn’t expect to leave so soon. “Okay, if you need anything…” Sidney said while grabbing a piece of paper and a pen from the table, “just call me. I live close.” He handed her the paper, “really, please, anything you need—even just to talk.” Sidney smiled lightly.

Sidney waited to hear her lock the door behind him before leaving the hallway.

Outside Charlotte’s building, he looked up at her apartment window then took out his phone to call the harbormaster. He knew exactly where he wanted them to dock his boat when it arrived tomorrow morning and precisely the view he desired.


	5. Chapter 5

Stringer was having little luck finding any trace of Charlotte’s assailant. Everything was cleared up at the club by the time he arrived and no one had checked into the hospital with injuries from a fight. Since many of the yacht crowd carried doctors with them—doctors who could do and prescribe just about everything—he didn’t really expect anything there. And when he talked to the bartenders and servers, no one had any useful information.

Stringer decided to start his morning with a run around the resort to see if he could pick up some clues—if he couldn’t, he’d at least learn who was creeping off which boat following a night of partying. After running past a few women clearly still dressed from the night before, shoes in hand and panties hanging out from one purse, he figured he’d seen most of it. He was wrong. As he turned a corner, he spied Tom Parker leaving the largest yacht on the dock—the yacht belonging to Eliza Campion. While Stringer didn’t know all the details, he knew there was no love between the Parker and Campion families. He also knew that her yacht was most definitely a strange place for a married man to be this early in the morning.

*****

Charlotte opted to skip her morning bike ride and allowed herself to sleep in. When she was finally awakened by the early morning sun, she laid in bed lazily staring at the light and the way it moved across the ceiling. She didn’t remember her dreams and thought it was good to feel rested. She was starting to sense that she was more like herself but definitely wasn’t all there yet. She replayed in her head the events of the last 36 hours a few times—trying to identify any clue, but it was all still a blur.

Charlotte rolled over and turned her attention to the window, thinking about how things can change so quickly. A few months earlier she was one of a few select scientists on a large research vessel in the middle of the south pacific. While everyone was congenial and there were fun times when someone had a bottle to share, most often everyone stayed to themselves and focused on the job at hand. Her parents had been worried for her—alone on a ship of men. Charlotte imagined her colleagues. “Mom and Dad had nothing to worry about there,” she thought to herself and smiled. Her male shipmates were all at least 20 years her senior and very eccentric. Her parents also thought it terribly dangerous to be in the middle of the ocean. Charlotte had advised them more than a few times to stop watching the shark shows on television, but they never obliged. 

In just her short time in Sanditon, Charlotte had experienced more danger than she could have imagined and the sharks seemed even more cold-blooded and ruthless. She did have to admit though, how fortunate she was to have Diana help her, and Sidney too. Charlotte spent a while thinking about him and laughed to herself, “if he were on the boat in the middle of the south pacific, my parents would have had something to worry about.” She recalled how kind he had been and how comfortable it was when she was in his arms on the docks. “Stop it Charlotte,” she said to herself aloud. “You are not that type of woman to crush on a friend’s boyfriend.” She looked at his phone number that she had left on the edge of her nightstand before bed. “You are not going to need that—ever,” she told herself, crumpling it into a ball, just missing the wastebasket.

Charlotte stretched, got out of bed, and made her way to the window to take a look at her boat but her eyes were quickly captured by the most amazing view of a Fife sailing yacht anchored in the last slip at the end of the pier. Her grandfather was on a racing crew in his younger days and was an avid sailor—always buying and restoring old boats. With her parents having their hands full with her brothers and sisters, Charlotte spent a lot of time helping with the restorations and sailing with her grandfather. She always credited him with her love of the ocean.

Her memory was interrupted with a knock at her apartment door. She quickly grabbed her robe and before she could look through the peephole, she could hear Diana chirping, “Charlotte, it’s me and I have either coffee or tea.”

Charlotte welcomed her in.

“I hope you don’t think I’m horrible, but I got your address from Sidney and I just so wanted to make sure you were okay,” Diana said, putting a variety of drinks on the table as well as some pastries. “I didn’t know if you liked tea or coffee or bagels or donuts, so I just got an assortment,” she said, smiling.

“You are much too kind Diana—thank you,” Charlotte said, genuinely happy for the company.

They talked about not much of anything for a while when Diana asked Charlotte about her research and if she had ever photographed any of her subjects. That brought a wide smile to Charlotte’s face as she grabbed her phone to show her some recent shots. Within seconds, Charlotte’s face paled and she immediately asked Diana to call Stringer while she changed.

*****

Sidney ran his hand through his dark hair then over his day-old stubble as he surveyed his new boat. While very happy with the find, he was starting to feel a bit daunted by the task at hand. He knew he wanted to do much of the restoration himself but was starting to doubt whether or not he could. As he brushed his fingers across the weathered railing, his eyes looked up to Charlotte’s apartment. He was not only doubting his ability to restore the boat but also his idea to locate it here, near her.

It wasn’t his intention to disturb Charlotte, nor did he want her to feel crowded. He just couldn’t shake this feeling that she needed help and he had to admit he was intrigued by her. Since that night when he carried her in his arms—before he even knew her name—she had not left his thoughts. He had considered at one point his feelings for her might just be the guilt he carried about Diana, but soon realized it was more than that. There was this feeling of hope he had when he was around her and it remained even when he just thought of her. And hope wasn’t a feeling he remembered having for a very long time.

Already that morning he had confirmed that indeed his boat’s galley and head were still in good working order and had arranged for his things to be brought from the resort so he could live on the boat while he restored her. He was contemplating how he might orchestrate a chance meeting with Charlotte that day and somehow explain why he was docked so near when he saw Stringer rush into her apartment building. Sidney quickly lept to the dock and followed.

Stringer was just entering Charlotte’s apartment when Sidney caught up, Diana held the door and let them both in, her look grave.

Charlotte sat in a large leather chair, looking small and fragile—not the woman Sidney left in this apartment the night before.

“I was on the dock and saw Stringer rush in, what’s going on?” Sidney asked Diana as he walked toward Charlotte.

Charlotte looked up at Sidney, her large brown eyes seemed to be expressing both fear and anger. “I did have my phone at the party,” she said, her hand shaking slightly as she offered it to him. It was a picture of her leaving the hospital. “Keep swiping,” she said.

There was a picture of her at Diana’s house, one of Sidney helping her into the car, another of them on her boat, several of them talking and eating and the last was a photo of a hand-written note. Sidney expanded the picture to read it…

_I’m sorry we were so rudely interrupted. See you soon sexy!_

Sidney handed the phone to Stringer and they all were quiet for a moment. Stringer broke the silence, “Is there anyone you can stay with?” he asked Charlotte.

“She’ll stay with me,” Diana stated as if fact.

“No, then you could both be in danger,” Sidney countered. “I think you should both move into the resort.”

The three of them went around in circles and in listening to them, even Charlotte started to think she should go back to her parents. “That will not do,” she said quietly to herself.

Charlotte stood up suddenly, gave them all a stern look then calmly stated, “I am not going anywhere. I am not going to be a victim of this bully.” She walked to the window and looked at the docks. “He’s out there somewhere and I’m not going to give him the satisfaction. And what’s to say that if I go and hide, he doesn’t just do this to someone else. I couldn’t live with that,” she said turning, locking eyes with Sidney then Diana, seeking understanding.

Sidney gave her a look that told her he understood her need to fight and Charlotte gave him a thankful nod.

“I’ll arrange for extra patrols and how about we get a security system set up in here?” Stringer said. “I’m going to take your phone to the lab just to ensure that he didn’t put any tracking software or anything else on it. You may want to get a cheap one in the meantime until I can return it.”

“Sidney can help you with that today,” Diana said, “and he’ll help with anything you need.”

Although Sidney typically did not like being volunteered, in this case, he was more than committed to following Diana’s direction.

“Thank you both, but I really don’t need a babysitter,” Charlotte said. “And besides, you have your own work to do.”

Sidney refused to be dismissed but knew Charlotte definitely needed to be in control and she needed to say yes. “Most of my work consists of sanding then waiting hours for things to set and dry. You’d actually be doing me a favor by keeping me occupied,” he lied.

Charlotte most certainly wanted his company and seeing that it was taking everything in her to appear brave at this point, it was hard to push him away, even though she knew she should.

“Please,” said Diana. “Help Sidney out here—he has nothing to do,” Diana said as she walked over to Charlotte. “It will make me feel so much better.”

Charlotte conceded and genuinely thanked them both as well as Stringer for the help. She excused herself and went to the bathroom to take a few deep breaths and splash some cold water on her face. She was terrified but knew she needed to have courage. She committed there and then not to be the hunted, but to be the hunter.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for your comments and for reading :)

Sidney and Charlotte walked out of the store and he stopped and immediately put his number in her new phone. “There. Call if you need anything, okay? If you don’t, Diana will kill me,” he smiled.

“Thanks,” Charlotte responded, feeling thankful and guilty at the same time.

“Where to next?” Sidney asked.

Before Charlotte could answer, she heard her name in something of a shrieking tone. “Charlotte! Charlotte!” screamed Clara. “Where the hell have you been?! I texted and called—I need you!”

“Can you give me a minute?” Charlotte motioned to the bench a little ways off and Sidney gave her some privacy but kept a watchful eye.

“Eliza wants to see you—she has some questions,” Clara said, out of breath from running. “You have to see her yacht—it is absolutely amazing. You should have come with us the other night; we had the most amazing time and she knows everyone!”

Charlotte’s eyes were furious—she had no desire to talk with Eliza and was about to tell Clara where she could go with her damn fundraising. While Charlotte knew Clara performed a critical job for the organization, she also knew that every dollar Clara raised above her annual goal resulted in a fairly handsome bonus. Everyone knew Clara was singled-minded and fairly ruthless in exceeding her goal—and Charlotte was livid at being abandoned at the party for it.

Charlotte was ready to dig in, then quickly reconsidered. It was clear to Charlotte that the person who had drugged and was now stalking her was most likely part of the yachting crowd and if she really was the hunter, she needed to be stealth, she needed to play it cool, and she needed to get into their world.

Charlotte composed herself. “I had an issue with my phone. When are we meeting with Eliza?”

Clara looked at Charlotte with disbelief. She thought it would be a battle to get Charlotte to agree to the meeting.

“I told her we could swing by this afternoon—five o’clock,” Clara said.

“Fine,” Charlotte said. “I obviously know what slip she’s in, I’ll meet you there—oh and I may bring someone with me.”

Clara gave her a quick hug and ran off, happier than Charlotte had ever seen.

Charlotte walked back to Sidney, asking “have plans this afternoon?”

*****

Stringer met Sidney and Charlotte upon their return to her apartment. The police were just finishing up the installation of a simple security system with a panic button and Charlotte had to admit, she did feel a bit safer. With the new alarm installed and the police onsite, Charlotte recommended Sidney take a break from guard duty. He only conceded when she promised to work inside with the alarm on and call if she needed to head out. He’d be back to pick her up a half hour before her meeting.

Stringer lingered a bit to show her the system. He didn’t have a lot of experience with this type of case and all he knew is that he didn’t want to do anything wrong—it would be squarely on him if she were hurt, or god forbid, killed. While he had increased patrols in the area, Stringer knew he didn’t have the manpower to assign her around-the-clock protection and was a bit relieved that Sidney was involved.

“Ms. Heywood, Charlotte,” Stringer said, stopping as he headed toward the door. “I do think it’s a good idea for you to stick close to Sidney. He knows most of the town and can handle himself in a fight,” Stringer said, choosing his next words not cautiously enough. “I think you should know; he has a bit of a violent past. He’d never hurt you, but if you do get into trouble, I recommend you let him at it and then you run and call me.”

Charlotte was confused by this advice. “What has he done?” she asked.

“It’s not important, just let him protect you,” Stringer gave her a half smile. “Lock the door after me and turn on the alarm,” he said, walking out of the apartment.

*****

Charlotte had been working for a couple of hours on her laptop when she realized something was off with one of her remote sensors located about two miles offshore. Apparently, it had been out for the last day when she was clearly otherwise occupied. She needed to go out and fix it fast. Charlotte looked at the clock—she had five hours before Eliza’s, more than enough time to get out and either repair or replace it.

The boat was parked right outside. She knew she promised to call Sidney if she needed to leave, but really hated bothering him and even though Stringer’s advice was directly in support of her calling him, she wondered about his comments about Sidney’s past—that was definitely not what she experienced or expected. And then there was the whole Diana component. She kept picking up and putting down the phone, trying to decide.

*****

After leaving Charlotte with Stringer, Sidney quickly went to work on his boat—sanding one area of the deck then applying the stain his knowledgeable advisors recommended. Now he just needed a day to see the results. He decided to spend some time catching up on work email.

While skill was most certainly involved, Sidney knew he was very lucky to have what he did. He had made quite a fortune in tech stocks in his early days thanks in part to investing his inheritance into his friend Babington’s then startup, which grew into a behemoth. That windfall enabled him to spend his time investing in and working with companies he liked and also protecting the precious lands around Sanditon. Babington and his wife Esther were the only ones of the yachting set he was eager to see—and Crowe of course, if he’d ever leave the Mediterranean.

He also tackled what he knew were the tougher emails from Georgiana. She was in college now and was desperate to spend at least part of her summer in Sanditon partying with the yachting crowd. While Sidney did indeed want to see her, he didn’t want to expose her to these people. He had skillfully arranged for her to enroll in a few study abroad programs for the summer, but there were two weeks before school that were unaccounted for and she was unyielding in her desire to come. He’d have to find some compromise—he’d definitely enlist Diana to help—and maybe Arthur could lure Georgiana to London for a few days.

He also noted to himself that while he didn’t want to again enter into land discussions with Tom, he did want to see him as well as Mary and the children. He didn’t want things to become so frayed over their different perspectives on his land that he lost those relationships. Family was important to Sidney—as he believed it was to all the Parker children.

The cabin was starting to feel stuffy and he decided to stretch his legs, checking his phone first to see if Charlotte had contacted him. His ringer and alerts were on, he just wanted to be certain. Sidney changed into his swimming trunks and a t-shirt, thinking he might walk to the beach for a quick swim as it didn’t seem Charlotte would need him until much later that afternoon. Standing on the deck, he had a clear line of sight to Charlotte’s boat and he couldn’t quite make it out, but it looked as if someone was on board. Sidney quickly made his way to the vessel—hoping he would surprise the intruder. He was not happy with who he saw.

“Charlotte, what the hell are you doing out here alone?” he asked, more rudely than intended, but clearly frustrated with her. She emerged from the small cabin and Sidney’s eyes widened. She was dressed in only a light blue bikini top and a pair of fairly brief black board shorts. He had of course already taken notice of how lovely she was, but the way she appeared with every curve on display was simply the definition of sexy and he half wanted to throw his towel around her and half wanted to wrap his hands about her waist and kiss her.

She shot him a look that was a mix of apology and defiance. “I just need to quickly check a sensor and I’ll be right back,” she said as she donned an Ocean Funds rash guard and made her way to the controls to start the engine.

Sidney was actually happy she put on the shirt to hide such a distracting view. “I’m coming with you,” he said hopping on board. He barely got his legs as Charlotte pulled away from the dock.

The noise from the engine precluded any conversation and Sidney was plotting what he wanted to say. “’How stupid and naive are you?’ is most likely not the best way to start,” he thought, but he was fairly angry that she would so quickly put herself in danger after what happened that morning. He was incensed and combined with the noon sun, he was getting hot and removed his dark blue t-shirt.

Charlotte caught a glimpse of his strong tanned arms and muscular chest and turned her head quickly away—she had never seen a man who looked that beautiful in person. Even though she wanted to, she refused to let herself look at him again and kept her eyes focused on the water. In addition to now being somewhat breathless, she was feeling guilty and ungrateful—and she really didn’t like being wrong. She knew she was all three of those things and more. As she approached the buoy with the sensor, she knew she needed to apologize and was quite honestly dreading it.

As she cut the engine, both Charlotte and Sidney spoke each other’s names at the same time then stopped. Sidney motioned for her to go first.

“You’re right, I’m sorry I should have called you—the boat was so close and I just didn’t want to bother you—I’ve already taken up so much of your time,” Charlotte said then turned as they approached the buoy with the sensor, looking to secure the boat to it. She wanted to be forgiven but couldn’t look at his disappointed expression any longer.

Sidney stepped over to help her. “Please don’t do it again,” he said as they successfully hooked the latch. “Really Charlotte,” Sidney reached out and laid his hand on her arm and gently squeezed to get her to look at him, “don’t do it again. Let me choose how I want to spend my time, okay? I wouldn’t know what I’d do if anything happened to you.” 

Charlotte nodded and could feel herself begin to blush at his concern.

Sidney watched as Charlotte removed the sensor and examined it. “It’s not malfunctioned, it’s been destroyed,” she said. “I’ve never seen anything like this before.” She handed the sensor to Sidney as she fetched a new one from the cabin and quickly set it up.

“This doesn’t look like it’s an accident, it looks like someone took a hammer to it,” Sidney said, examining it closely.

Charlotte was busy testing the new sensor and Sidney was lost in trying to figure out why someone would take the time to destroy something all the way out here. They were both too focused to notice the cigarette boat speeding directly at them. It was Sidney that spotted it first. “What the hell! They aren’t turning,” he said, leaping to sound the horn then start the engine.

“I can’t get us unhooked from the buoy, the latch is jammed,” Charlotte shouted, her fingers fumbling with each attempt.

Sidney tried to help but realized the boat was approaching too quickly. He took Charlotte’s hand and pulled her to edge. “Swim away from the boat,” he yelled as they both jumped into the water.

Sidney looked back just in time to see the boat turn at the absolute last moment, leaving a large spray of water that soaked everything before disappearing over the horizon.

Sidney climbed back on the boat, pulled Charlotte out of the water and directly into his arms. He was scared and needed to hold her, and as she started crying, clearly, she was frightened as well. He held her tight to his chest as she laced her arms under his, her hands firmly holding his back and pulling him close to her. Sidney could feel Charlotte’s heart racing, in synch with his. They clung together, finding security and comfort in each other’s arms for several minutes—Sidney keeping his eyes on the water in case the boat returned.

Charlotte told herself she needed to be strong so she steadied herself, slowly untangled from the embrace and wiped her eyes before she went to unhook the boat from the buoy. “We need to go,” she said a bit too calmly. She thought she had composed herself, but her hands were shaking and she couldn’t work the latch. “Be the hunter, come on Charlotte, you can do this,” she thought to herself over and over. Sidney came behind Charlotte and folded her back into his arms. She turned her face and buried it into his chest and gave herself another few moments to be reassured as Sidney lovingly stroked her back to calm her.

“I’m better now, thank you,” Charlotte said quietly as she looked up at Sidney.

“Well that’s one of us,” he said, smiling, trying to lighten things. “How about we go home?”


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading and all the encouraging and interesting comments!!!--hope this turn isn't too disappointing :)

After securing the boat, Sidney walked Charlotte to her apartment. They hadn’t talked about it, but he was sure that she was wondering the same thing—was it just some random person playing games, or was the sensor sabotaged on purpose to get her out on the open water? “But how would anyone know she was there unless she was being followed,” he thought, looking at everyone they passed suspiciously.

Charlotte unlocked the door and as she was keying in the security code, said, “do you think we should call Stringer?”

As he entered the apartment, Sidney noticed a note that had been slipped under her door. “Yes, I think we definitely should,” he said after reading it.

_I didn’t expect a threesome. That was terribly rude of you. I look forward to being alone again with you sexy!_

*****

When Charlotte called, Stringer was about two hours from Sanditon. He had just dropped off her phone at a much larger police station than Sanditon’s that was equipped with a lab capable of analyzing her phone and the photos. He was looking forward to the drive and the opportunity to think about the case uninterrupted. While Charlotte had only been in town a short while, she had managed to meet quite a wide swath of the yacht crowd thanks to Clara’s aggressive fundraising techniques. The only locals she seemed to become familiar with were the owner of the taco stand and the barista at the corner coffee shop—and, of course, the Parkers.

Stringer felt his best strategy was to focus on the yacht crowd—starting with those who may have donated to Ocean Funds to get close to her. He also began to wonder, if it was someone in that group, he may have done this before to women in other towns.

Stringer had already sent an officer to retrieve the new note from Charlotte. The officer would also canvas the area and send out a BOLO on the boat, but Stringer held little hope of witnesses—people tended to mind their own business. The situation was escalating and Stringer knew he needed to make progress fast. His best way forward was to get copies of the notes and make inquiries to police stations in other resort towns.

*****

After recounting the events of the afternoon and providing the best description of the boat possible to Stringer, Charlotte and Sidney stood in silence. The anxiety over the day’s trials combined with their earlier closeness had left them both at a bit of a loss about what to say and do next. Sidney could only think about taking her hand, walking her straight to his boat, and sailing out of there.

If he would have asked Charlotte to go with him right at that moment, she most likely would have. The feeling of not being in control was wrecking her and she hated the sense that she was being played with—that she was an amusement to someone. That thought reignited her anger. “You better go get ready,” said Charlotte, as she walked to the door to see Sidney out. 

“You’re not serious—with everything, you are still going to this meeting?” Sidney said, a bit in disbelief while also proud of her resilience.

“I have a meeting with the woman who, according to Clara, simply knows everyone,” she said, with a touch of sarcasm. “That sounds like a pretty good place to start.”

*****

Diana was a bit frustrated with Tom. She had left a fairly detailed message about what had happened the night of the party and he knew she wanted to talk with him about the security and additional medical personnel but he had yet to call her back. Determined not to be put off any longer, she made her way to his office and planted herself there for the afternoon.

While she awaited his return, Diana studied some of his models for the expansion of the resort. While beautiful, she knew they would never come to pass as long as Sidney owned the land. Much to Tom’s dismay, Sidney was committed to protecting the habitat and no amount of money would push him to change his mind. She made her way to the bookcase and looked over Tom’s pictures, picking up a photo of the four of them—she and her three brothers—at Tom’s wedding. She remembered how they all had toasted to their parents’ memory just before the shot was taken and how they were all so happy to know they had each other to depend on. 

“That was a wonderful day,” Tom said as he entered the office and walked straight to Diana, giving her a quick half-hug as they both looked at the photo. “Before you begin, I’m already on it. We’re looking at not only the cameras but the lighting. And I’ve asked the head of security to do a full audit,” Tom said as he took a seat behind his desk. “And how is the young lady? Who was it again?” he asked.

Diana provided him an update but refused to reveal Charlotte’s name—Diana knew that was not hers to share, even though she suspected it would break Tom’s heart. Tom had met Charlotte a few times and had thought her a good role model for his daughters. He was the one who actually had encouraged Mary to take the children to meet her to learn about her research.

“I have another concerning topic,” Diana started.

“I think I already know it,” Tom interrupted, now looking troubled. “She’s here for the season—and, while I don’t have proof, I am fairly certain she’s already causing trouble. Have you called Arthur?”

Diana nodded. “He’ll be here the day after tomorrow.”

Tom looked across the room at the picture of him and his siblings. “The best thing we can do is keep Sidney as far away from her as possible.”

*****

Sidney snickered a bit when Charlotte opened the door. She looked like a strange mix of flight attendant and tour guide in her white button-down shirt with the Ocean Funds logo and crisp, black knee-length skirt. Her hair was pulled back in a sleek chignon and she completed the look with a tightly knotted sea blue kerchief around her neck—chosen specifically to convey to Eliza that she would not be intimidated.

“Is this the normal Ocean Funds uniform?” he asked as they made their way to the docks. After seeing her on the boat earlier that day, Sidney had a fairly good idea of what she looked like underneath those clothes and actually thought she still looked quite sexy.

She rolled her eyes and smiled. “Yes, I know it’s terrible, but I want to ensure everyone knows that I’m there for business—including Clara.” Charlotte had filled in Sidney about Clara that morning as well as her rage about being left at the party.

A few slips from the yacht, Sidney’s phone rang—it was Diana. He was about to ignore the call, but Charlotte said, “take it. I’ll be okay with Clara. I don’t think it will take more than 25 minutes.”

Sidney nodded and answered the call, “wait,” he said, muting the phone. “I’m timing. If you’re not here in 25 minutes, I’ll come find you. Time starts now,” he said, giving her a smile. Charlotte liked that smile and knew it was wrong, but also liked how he looked in his white linen shirt and tan linen trousers. Her mind quickly flashed to the image of his bare chest from earlier, recalling how it felt to hold him tight to her.

Charlotte smiled back at him and then turned to look at Clara, who stood on the gangway and was most certainly not smiling. Instead, she was giving Charlotte an exasperated look about the scarf and signaled for her to remove it. Charlotte just shook her head a definite ‘no’ as she passed Clara and headed onto the yacht. 

*****

Both Clara and Charlotte stood for some minutes waiting to be led to the upper deck to meet with Eliza. Charlotte kept aware of the time. She didn’t want Sidney to need to look for her—he’d been through enough today. She was also starting to wonder if this meeting would even lead to anything for Ocean Funds or her own search for her assailant when she suddenly felt a chill.

Charlotte turned—a tall man was close behind her. His jaw was bruised, and two of his fingers splinted. She slightly remembered him being with Eliza that night but wasn’t sure if they had spoken. All she knew for certain was that she immediately did not like his company.

“Eddie,” Clara smiled broadly and gave him a friendly hug as he kept his eyes on Charlotte.

“It’s lovely to see you again Clara,” he said, turning to her and giving her a lingering kiss on the cheek, as his hand trailed lightly down her back.

“You remember Charlotte?” Clara asked, her smile wide—in full fundraising mode.

He leaned to kiss Charlotte’s cheek and she instinctively stepped back. “Ah, yes, I don’t think we formally met the other night. Edward Denham,” he said, smiling as he took her hand and kissed it. “Ladies, let me take you to Eliza,”

Charlotte followed Clara and Edward up the stairs to a string bikini-clad Eliza lounging near a hot tub where the two other men from the party were stewing. Eliza accented even her black suit with a tight black kerchief around her neck.

“Your guests are here,” Edward said, as he headed to the bar to fetch drinks.

Eliza lazily lowered her sunglasses to welcome Clara and Charlotte, motioning for them to sit then looking directly at Charlotte’s scarf with piercing eyes. “Clara, lovely to see you again. What fun we had the other night, yes?” she said as she sat up and took a glass of champagne from Edward. “And Charlotte, right? We missed you, but I’m sure you found something entertaining to do,” Eliza said and then took a long sip.

Edward offered Clara a glass, which she eagerly accepted. Charlotte promptly refused. “Thank you for asking us here today, how can I help you?” said Charlotte, feeling a bit intimidated as Eliza’s muscular companions emerged from the hot tub and toweled off near her.

“Oh you’re right to business, aren’t you? Aren’t you a sweet thing,” Eliza said, holding out her now empty glass for a refill, which Edward quickly provided, spilling a bit as he used his non-dominant hand to pour.

“Isn’t it horrible?” Eliza began. “Our poor Eddie got in a little trouble when the boyfriend of the young thing he was pleasuring rudely interrupted them,” Eliza said as she stood and gently stroked Edward’s bruised cheek with her fingers.

The phrase made Charlotte go cold and she quickly assessed the exits—she wasn’t sure if that wording was intentional and most certainly didn’t want to overreact but felt she needed to be prepared. 

“Oh Charlotte,” Eliza said walking to her, “you must think me the rudest. You met Eddie—he actually used to live in Sanditon years and years ago. I think we met when we were, what? Seventeen?” She smiled at him and blew him a little kiss.

“That’s Mark—Eddie and I picked him up in Miami. And that’s Jake from Sydney. Aren’t they just so yummy,” she said, and then drained her second glass. She refilled it and then walked over to Clara and refilled hers as well.

Charlotte inhaled deeply, trying to keep her composure as both Mark and Jake stood close behind her, just out of her peripheral view. “What Ocean Funds questions can I answer for you?” Charlotte asked, glancing quickly at her watch.

“Oh, do you have somewhere better to be?” Eliza asked with a glare.

Clara felt she needed to step in, and gave Charlotte a look, “you know, she needs to get back to her fish. Scientists aren’t the most social creatures.” Clara’s eyes were clearly telling Charlotte to play along.

Eliza smiled and turned her attention back to Charlotte. “I just want to know what drives you. I mean, it can’t be the money. I understand you don’t live in the best place,” Eliza looked over at Clara who had clearly provided her with Charlotte’s location. “And that little boat of yours—the worst. I just don’t understand why anyone would spend time doing what you do,” her comment was accompanied by a dismissive wave of her hand. “You see, if I’m going to donate money, I need to know what really gets your juices flowing,” she said as she moved to stand directly in front of Charlotte, much too close for comfort as Charlotte was already feeling crowded by Eliza’s companions. Eliza took another long sip, looked directly into Charlotte’s eyes, then added, “tell me, what gets you wet Charlotte?”

Charlotte was not going to be baited by Eliza’s vulgarity. “What I do keeps you alive,” Charlotte said flatly. “Our oceans produce over half of the world’s oxygen and absorbs 50 times more carbon dioxide than our atmosphere.” Charlotte continued to explain how a sixth of the world’s food comes from oceans and other details she thought might resonate in some way with Eliza and not anger Clara—though she doubted Eliza even cared.

Charlotte gave a quick smile as she finished her response and Eliza laughed. “Very good then, Eddie…”

Edward walked over to Charlotte and dropped a check for £75,000 made out to Ocean Funds in her lap. “That’s all I feel like giving you today. We can talk more at the regatta about real money. Oh and,” Eliza leaned close and whispered into Charlotte’s ear, “I’m happy to lend any or all of them to you. You look like you could use a good fuck.”

Charlotte quickly stood, her eyes glaring at Eliza, barely able to resist the urge to slap her. She walked over to Clara and handed her the check. “Let’s go,” she said infuriated and desperate to leave.

“Don’t forget my offer,” Eliza said as she followed Charlotte and Clara down the stairs. “Clara, why don’t you stay awhile? Mark can help you find a swimsuit below.”

Clara smiled quickly at Charlotte, mouthed a ‘thank you’ at her, then turned and followed Mark to the staterooms. Charlotte continued to make her way down the gangway and to the dock as Eliza and Edward stood in the shadows near the railing.

“Your game is getting too complicated,” Edward said, running his hand over Eliza’s lower back, resting his fingers under the waistband of her bikini. “This was just supposed to be a quick night of our usual random fun—you’re taking too many risks now with all these little tricks and inviting her here...”

“Let’s not forget, you’re the one who picked her from the crowd and sent Jake to do his thing. Clearly she turned out to be more complicated than you thought,” she smiled at him. “Don’t pout. I think this is much more fun than our typical games, don’t you?” she said, watching as Charlotte quickly made her way to Sidney whose eyes were taking in Charlotte’s every step. Eliza observed Sidney’s gaze and recognized it well—it was one of deep care, potentially even love. He had looked at her that way years ago and Eliza remembered how it made her feel so wonderfully powerful to have such control over him.

“Who would have guessed we’d find such fun toys to play with in Sanditon,” Eliza said, turning to Edward. “I’m so sorry you had to take a beating my dear. If you would have just let Jake stay and play with you instead of wanting her all to yourself things might have been different. But alas, you didn’t. This is what you get for being selfish. You need to learn to share Eddie,” Eliza said, running her fingers across his lips.

“I could never have imagined we’d catch Sidney in our game—that’s making it even more fun. Now be off, make yourself scarce,” she said pushing Edward away. “I need to say hi to an old friend—oh, and make sure Jake sank the boat from earlier. I don’t want that coming back to bite us.”

Edward retreated into the doorway as Eliza shouted, “Sidney darling, come give us a kiss!”


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading, for all your patience with this story, and the comments. Have a wonderful day!

“Two more minutes then go get her,” Sidney said to himself as he paced waiting for Charlotte. The conversation with Diana had ended some fifteen minutes ago and he had committed to a family dinner at Tom’s the evening after next. With a minute to spare, Sidney decided to go find Charlotte but stopped as he watched her quickly make her way off the yacht. She had a determined stride and her brow was visibly furrowed in frustration.

“I need a drink,” she said, not so much to Sidney as to herself when she approached him.

“Didn’t go well, I take it,” Sidney said.

“That woman is simply horrible,” she said, removing the kerchief from her neck. Charlotte looked at up and him, her eyes questioning, “and Sidney, I have no proof and I know you’ll think I’m crazy, but I really feel she and her friends are behind everything.”

Right then, Sidney heard the familiar voice…“Sidney darling, come give us a kiss!”

Sidney inhaled deeply then turned to look at Eliza—it was the first time he’d seen her since that day in their bed all those years ago. Although Eliza was a gorgeous woman, Sidney saw nothing but malevolence. He returned his focus to Charlotte and took her hand, “I have no doubt,” Sidney said as he quickly led her away.

*****

Stringer was feeling at a loss. He had left messages with the authorities in several other ports trying to find some pattern but had yet to hear back, the BOLO on the boat had zero hits and the police officer he sent earlier that day to find any potential witnesses came up with nothing. He needed to go back to the beginning.

He replayed Charlotte’s comments about the night in his head—a blue shirt, tall man. “Shit! I’m an idiot,” he said loudly, drawing the attention of some patrolmen. He grabbed his keys and quickly headed out of the station.

*****

“Slow down, please,” Charlotte pleaded. Her flats, while comfortable, were not exactly capable of the pace and Sidney was taking long, fast strides. She simply couldn’t keep up and even though she knew she should, she didn’t want to remove her hand from his.

Focused on putting as much distance between them and Eliza, Sidney hadn’t realized that he was half dragging Charlotte. He had heard things about Eliza over the years, but never let himself believe them. He didn’t want to imagine that he had been so thoroughly fooled by her—so completely under her spell. He felt sick, angry and a bit scared all at once—scared that he could somehow become enthralled again.

He slowed and then stopped. Sidney looked at Charlotte, trying to assess the wounds Eliza inflicted upon her as if they were visible.

“How do you know Eliza?” Charlotte asked, catching her breath.

Every memory Sidney had of Eliza seemed to flood in at once and he had to close his eyes to push them back. He never talked to anyone about her—Diana knew the most, which was fairly little. And while he had no intention of ever sharing, he now felt like Charlotte needed to know about this woman who most likely had made her a target.

Sidney opened his eyes and a family walked past. “Not here,” he said weakly.

Charlotte could see he was truly pained—he had been such a rock for her the last couple of days and she desperately wanted to return his compassion. “I’ll follow you anywhere you want to go,” she said, giving him a comforting smile.

*****

After the second round of knocking at Diana’s front door with no response, Stringer decided to check around back. Her car was in the driveway and her bike was on the porch—she couldn’t be that far away. He knew he’d need to be strong with her, which was simply not his way. He had liked her since they were teenagers and remembered how fun it was when she and her mother would come into the restaurant for lunch where he worked as a server. Diana would order way too much to drive up the bill and her mother would always give them time alone by retreating to the restroom. And she’d always leave a ridiculously large tip.

He never got the chance to ask Diana out though. Her mother became ill and then they both retreated to university. That he never expressed his feelings was one of his biggest regrets, and what he needed to do now would most likely end any chance of a relationship between them.

Stringer found Diana on the patio reading. He watched her for a short while, wondering if she was ever lonely out here by herself. Her mother had left her the cottage—it was her art studio for some time. An inheritance that Sidney helped her invest provided Diana with a more than stable life, though extravagance was never her nature. 

Diana could feel eyes on her and turned around. Stringer didn’t have to ask—Diana knew why he was there, knew she needed to protect Sidney and prepared herself for a standoff.

“I need to know, Diana – you must tell me what really happened. And I need to talk to Sidney,” Stringer said, as Diana stood, closed her book, and tossed it on the chair.

“I’ve told you everything that matters,” Diana said, folding her arms over her chest.

Stringer stepped closer to her, “you told me what you wanted me to hear—you haven’t told me what I need to know.” He searched a long time for the right words. Every lovely thought of her when they were young was flowing through him and he so didn’t want to hurt her. “Look, Diana, I’m not trying to go after Sidney for anything,” he said. “I’m confident he probably did the right thing the other night,” Stringer paused, questioning if he should say it— “just like he did for you all those years ago.”

Diana hugged her arms tighter and dropped her eyes from his gaze—she didn’t know that he knew.

“I just want to get this guy Diana, please just have faith in me,” Stringer said, now standing in front of her. “I won’t do anything to hurt you or your family.”

Diana nodded and lifted her eyes back to his. “Come inside James,” she said and led him into the house.

*****

Charlotte assumed they were going back to her apartment and was surprised when Sidney turned and led her to the end of the dock to the Fife she had earlier so admired. He didn’t bother pulling up the steps and instead startled Charlotte by placing his hands under her arms and lifting her onto the boat—he stood with his eyes locked with hers for a mere second, but Charlotte understood that he was asking to be trusted. Sidney quickly untied the lines and jumped up on deck. He motioned to her to sit as he walked directly to the controls. He started the engine and they headed out of the harbor without a word.

The sun was low and was just beginning to turn the sky a mix of red and orange. Charlotte knew they most likely only had an hour of light left, if that, and was starting to wonder about their destination, but would not ask. Never before had Charlotte watched someone seem to carry so much inside as Sidney. She studied his face as he kept his eyes on the water, his visage unchanging except that he further clenched his jaw when he seemed in deepest thought.

“We’re almost there,” he said, as if he could read her mind, keeping his eyes on the water. They had been traveling up the coast and Charlotte watched as all signs of civilization disappeared and it became just open land with pristine beaches and cliffs. Quickly even that disappeared as they lost the light and all Charlotte could see were shadows. The dark wasn’t something Charlotte had ever feared but she hadn’t met creatures like Eliza and her friends before and with their voices in her head, she was starting to feel vulnerable and exposed. And Stringer’s words about Sidney and some past of violence was causing her to have even more thoughts she didn’t want.

Sidney could only think of one place to go where they would be safe. He retreated there when he felt weak and defenseless and needed to feel comforted—he spent days, even weeks there after his parents died, after Eliza’s betrayal, after Diana’s incident and now, today, he wanted to stay there forever so he could protect Charlotte. He cut the engine and dropped anchor. Even though he couldn’t see a thing, he knew the cove would protect them and he felt at least a little of the tension leave his body.

He could see that Charlotte did not feel the same way. Her arms were wrapped tightly around her and she looked as if on guard—her head turning quickly at the slightest sound. Sidney realized he hadn’t really thought about this from her perspective—for him, this was the only place to come, for her this isolated location was most likely extremely scary. He so wished they had arrived before dark so she could see for herself and understand that she was truly safe.

The right words were nowhere to be found, so Sidney just sat down beside her staring at the deck. He could feel her eyes on him and quietly started, “I’m sorry, this is just where I always come to feel safe. I didn’t think about how you’d feel.” He looked at her and began to stand, “I’ll take you home.” Charlotte put her hand on his arm to stop him.

“I said earlier I need a drink—do you have anything on this boat?” she asked.

Sidney nodded. “Red or white?”

“Red,” she said, still holding his arm. “Then we need to talk.”

*****

Sidney looked around the galley—he had the wine but no wine glasses and grabbed two coffee mugs. He was about to open the wine but waited. He’d let her do that herself—he didn’t want her to have any doubts.

He knew he wasn’t thinking as clearly as he’d like as he walked to fetch a couple sweaters. It wasn’t until they were halfway to the cove that he realized he’d never brought anyone there with him before. It was instinct that drove him to bring Charlotte. Everything with her he did on instinct and he wondered if that was smart.

“Wasn’t that what I did with Eliza?” he asked himself aloud, knowing it was the opposite. With Eliza, his instincts had told him to run—told him she was not to be trusted. And every time he had doubts, he convinced himself that he was wrong, that she was right and that he was a fool for ever thinking she was flawed in any way, shape, or form. His instincts had told him for a long time that there were others and he ignored it. It wasn’t until that night, watching her take so much pleasure from his pain that he walked. What he could barely admit to himself was that there were several times in those early days that he thought he should just go back. It was only later, when he talked to friends who were successfully recovering from drug addiction, that he realized, for him, Eliza was like heroin and he feared he’d always be a recovering addict.

*****

The temperature was starting to drop and Charlotte welcomed the sweater wrapping it around her shoulders. While Sidney was in the cabin, she had unpinned her hair and was feeling a bit more relaxed understanding that he had brought her somewhere he considered safe.

Sidney handed her the bottle and the opener and she handed it back to him. “I think I need a generous pour,” she said, trying to relieve some of the tension. “And I’m guessing you need one as well.”

He opened the wine and handed her a full coffee mug. “Sorry, wasn’t expecting visitors,” he said as he raised his own mug.

“I have questions and I’d like you to give me honest answers,” she said after taking a long sip. She had thought of how to start this discussion while he was in the cabin and was hoping she didn’t seem too forward, but as a scientist, she really hated not having answers.

Sidney bowed his head yes then said, “I have some questions and will you do the same?”

Charlotte nodded and took another sip of her wine, preparing for her first question. “I was warned you have a violent past. What does that mean?”

Sidney exhaled, saddened that this continued to follow him without his side of the story. “A woman I love very much was about to be attacked and I intervened. I admit I was vicious with her assailant, but at the time I thought it was necessary. And I still do,” he paused for a moment and took a drink. “Ever since then I’ve had this reputation with the local authorities, which I don’t think I’ve really lived up to.”

“Was that the only time?” Charlotte asked.

Sidney considered his answer wanting to be as transparent as possible. “I’ve been in fights—as part of my boxing and fight clubs, but those are sports.” He added quietly, “and there was one other time I helped someone who was being attacked. I’ve never instigated a fight,” he said, hoping her questions about fighting would end there.

Charlotte couldn’t understand why Stringer would say anything about a violent past if this was the truth, and she deeply felt it was. She considered if he was ready for her next question and watched as he took another sip from his mug. “How do you know Eliza?” she asked, desperately hoping it was not what she expected to be true. Her stomach ached at the first words of his response.

“I thought she was the love of my life—I was young and foolish I guess,” Sidney said softly, not looking at Charlotte, his eyes focused on the dark water. “I don’t know if I have the energy tonight to go into everything, but all I know for certain is that she wasn’t the girl, the woman I thought she was,” he said, putting down his mug and running his hand through his hair. “We met when we were seventeen. She was lovely, exciting, and smart and I was this gawky, stupid boy who just loved to sail,” he hesitated— “she was magic for someone like me.”

Charlotte looked at him not wanting to hear this all but needing to—even if he would never be hers, she would still be his friend. His look was far away when he talked about Eliza and it was as if he was becoming that vulnerable young man again before her eyes instead of the strong man she had so quickly come to know and trust.

“I had heard things about her, but never believed them. And I learned later that she had these proclivities, these cruel desires, that I never knew about or really maybe never let myself admit to,” he said, with a tone of self-loathing. “We were living together in London. I had just finished university and I found out who she really was and left,” he said, turning to Charlotte. “Today was the first time I’ve seen her since I walked out.”

Charlotte couldn’t think of anything right to say. “I’m sorry,” she said, meaning it so very deeply. She waited a few moments and didn’t want to ask but she needed to know, especially after what she had just experienced that day. “Do you think you still love her?”

Sidney didn’t take offense to the question and thought about it for a moment. “No, but I worry,” he said softly. “I don’t think she knows what love is,” he stopped himself from continuing, but decided to risk it. “I don’t even really think I know what love is sometimes.”

He picked up his mug and took another drink. They sat in silence for a few minutes and he asked, “any other questions, or it is my turn?”

Charlotte wanted desperately to ask how serious he and Diana were but felt this just wasn’t the right time and really, now it just felt self-centered. “Not right now,” she said, giving him a slight smile.

He kept her gaze. Sidney knew he needed to understand everything in detail about her meeting with Eliza, and selfishly he also wanted to ask if she could ever consider having someone like him in her life, but he felt it was just better to cut to the chase and he absolutely hated what he needed to say next. “I believe Eliza is dangerous and I think you should leave Sanditon.”

That was not what Charlotte expected. “Is that what you really want, you want me to leave?” Charlotte quickly said in response, without thinking before the words left her mouth. She stood up, dropped her sweater to the deck, and walked to the bow of the boat. The wine combined with the emotions of the day as well as her feelings for him were getting mixed up and she needed to remember who she was. She was trying to figure it out and it wasn’t helpful when Sidney came up close behind her, placing his hand gently on her shoulder.

“I’m not trying to hurt you. I just want you to be safe, and I don't know if you can be here,” Sidney said.

His touch and the memory of how it felt to be in his embrace earlier impassioned Charlotte and she turned and somewhat awkwardly kissed him on the lips, immediately regretting it. “I’m so…” was all she could get out before he embraced her, pulled her close to him, and tenderly kissed her—his lips warm and delicious from the wine, his tongue soft and pleasing.

Charlotte didn’t want to stop, but she pushed him away. “What about Diana?” she asked, feeling guilty but also wondering if that guilt would actually stop her.

“My sister?” Sidney looked at her, confused.

“You’re her brother?” she asked.

Sidney suddenly realized what she must have thought and wondered how many other things she had assumed. But that could wait. He kissed her again and with her more than passionate response, he knew that at least one of his questions was answered.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading and for the encouragement. Have a lovely day!

“Where the hell are they,” Stringer said as he tried Charlotte’s cell again before heading from his car to her apartment. Diana had tried Sidney a number of times with no luck and was following just a few strides behind. Diana had shared with Stringer everything she knew from that night, including how Eliza may have been the last person to talk with Charlotte as well as what she could recall of the man who led her away. Unfortunately, Diana was more focused on Charlotte and wasn’t much help there. She did also share what Sidney told her of his altercation and that yes, indeed Stringer was looking for someone most likely with injuries.

Stringer held the door of the apartment building open for Diana and she stopped as she looked at the docks—Sidney’s boat was missing. “They aren’t here, and I know why we can’t reach them,” she said. On their call earlier, Sidney told her that he was living on the Fife for the summer and let her know where it was docked so he could keep an eye on Charlotte. “They’re on the water and if I know Sidney, they are out of cell range.”

“With everything that’s happened, why didn’t they call me?” Stringer let the door close, looking frustrated.

“I’m sure they’ll be back—if not later tonight then tomorrow,” she said, trying to ease Stringer’s irritation. She considered adding that she at least knew where Sidney would be the evening after next, but she didn’t think that would help at this point. Diana was actually relieved Sidney and Charlotte weren’t available and had hoped, that even through all of this, they were starting to form at least a friendship. She hadn’t seen Sidney care about someone so much outside of the family or Georgiana in years, and she considered Charlotte to be good for him. Diana nor her other brothers had ever trusted Eliza and unfortunately, they learned early on that if they wanted Sidney in their lives, to keep quiet on the subject.

“I need to talk to Eliza Campion tonight,” Stringer said, interrupting Diana’s thoughts.

“Isn’t it too late?” she asked, looking at her watch.

“From what I’ve heard of this woman, the later the better,” Stringer criticized.

Diana considered her next words for a minute. “I could wait for you if you like, at the club. We could meet after…” Diana said quietly.

“I’d like that very much,” he responded, resisting the urge to take her hand, but hoping he would indeed hold it by the end of the night.

*****

Charlotte never felt so breathless from a kiss in her life. Her eyes were focused on the stars as Sidney’s lips left hers to explore her neck, his hands gently enveloping her and pulling her close. Her fingers lightly gripped his muscular back and she hated the thin linen shirt that kept her from feeling his body. She wanted to touch his skin and inched her fingers lightly up his back to his neck, caressing and teasingly pulling his hair.

Her touch was sending powerful sensations through his body and the taste of her lips, her mouth, her skin was the nourishment Sidney never knew he needed. He raised his hand to release a button of her blouse to provide his fingers and lips with access to her collar bone where he placed soft kisses before reclaiming her already swollen lips.

The feeling of Sidney’s hand caressing her neck as his other hand traveled down her lower back encouraged moans that Charlotte, at first, didn’t recognize as her own. The sense of desire she had was like nothing she’d ever known and as Sidney released the second button of her blouse, Eliza’s words rung in her ears— _you look like you could use a good fuck._ Charlotte took Sidney’s hand to stop him and broke their kiss.

He looked at her lovingly trying to see what he might have done wrong, but she would not meet his gaze. Sidney gently lifted her face to his and could see it in her eyes. “She’s in your head, isn’t she?” he asked, wondering just what had happened on the yacht earlier.

Charlotte nodded. “I’m sorry, I want this with you, you have no idea how much,” she said somewhat embarrassed at her forwardness, resulting in a shy smile.

“Well it’s good to know we want the same thing,” he said, pulling her close and laying a gentle kiss on her forehead. “How about we go in and I’ll make us something to eat—then you can tell me everything that happened.”

*****

“Pure luck,” Stringer said to himself when he approached Eliza’s yacht as she descended the gangway with Jake and Mark in tow. She looked ready to party in a short white dress, black scarf, and heels that would most certainly make it hard for her to quickly escape his questions. “Mrs. Campion, Detective Stringer with the Sanditon authorities, I just need a few minutes of your time,” he said, planting himself directly in her path.

“I’m sorry, who are you?” she looked at him more than slightly perturbed, clearly not hearing the words ‘detective’ or ‘authorities.’

“Detective Stringer,” he said again. “I’d like to talk to you about the party at the club the other night and I’d like to do it now.”

Eliza could see that he was not in a mood to be put off and immediately switched her tone. “Sir, I’m so sorry I didn’t hear you. How can I help?” she said, taking his arm and moving him to the side of the dock, signaling for Jake and Mark to keep walking.

Stringer caught the nod and told them both to wait. He asked them all several questions about the night—where they were before the party, what they did at the party, and where they went after. “And I understand you spoke with a scientist from Ocean Funds, a Ms. Heywood,” he said, looking at each of them for a response when he said her name. “Can you tell me what you talked about?”

Even though Eliza smiled at the question, Stringer could see a chink in her armor as her eyes expressed anger. “Yes, we did talk to Charlotte. We talked about her important work and discussed her organization. In fact, she came here earlier today and I made a nice donation. Is there anything else?” she asked curtly.

Stringer looked her over as well as Jake and Mark, seeing no injuries, “no, I think we’re good, for now.”

Eliza began to walk away.

“But, Mrs. Campion, if you think of anything you remember from that night that you'd like to discuss, just give me a call,” he said, handing her his card.

Eliza smiled and gave the card to Mark as they turned and walked away.

Stringer may not have heard what he wanted, but he knew three things: Eliza did not like Charlotte, Eliza was most likely somehow involved, and he needed to find out why Charlotte was on Eliza's yacht earlier that day. But most importantly, he knew that Diana was waiting for him and that fact made him happier than he’d been in years.

*****

Charlotte watched Sidney sleep on the bunk across from her. They had stayed up rather late talking, first about all that happened on the yacht, which now, after some rest, she realized she had forgotten to tell him a few things. She was tired, he asked so many questions, and a part of her just didn’t want to remember, but she’d tell him this morning. Then they talked about their lives. It didn’t dawn on her until far into their conversation that as Diana’s brother, Sidney was a Parker and he didn’t work on this boat, he owned it. She felt fairly foolish, but Sidney never made her feel that way and he was so wonderfully interested when she talked about her grandfather and their shared love of the sea.

They swapped stories about their siblings, and although they admitted each had very different privileges, they definitely shared a love of family and she felt he was just as protective of his as she was of hers. When she could barely keep her eyes open, he led her to a guest stateroom with separate bunks so they could continue talking until she fell asleep. Looking at him now, as he slept facing her in another bed, she wished she hadn’t taken his hand to stop him last night and was instead now resting in his arms. 

While Sidney had shared at least some of his past with Eliza, Charlotte hadn’t discussed any past relationships with him—in truth, her one real relationship. She was amazed how after only a few days she felt so trusting, stirred, and alive with Sidney—none of the things she ever felt with Ryan. It was hard for her to call him her first love because she wasn’t really sure if that’s what it was. She had just entered the Ph.D. program at Yestwood as the youngest scholar and unlike some of the other candidates, Ryan was generous and kind to her from the start. Things happened quickly and she never even told her parents they’d moved in together. It was nice for a while, but things soured significantly when Charlotte won a grant that Ryan had expected to receive. She became even busier with her research and he became even more pressing about marriage and starting a family—fearing he was losing her. It wasn’t until Charlotte was packing a bag for their “let’s make this better” weekend trip that she realized how focused he was on keeping her.

With eleven siblings, Charlotte witnessed firsthand the demands of children, and even before meeting Ryan knew she wanted to wait on starting a family and obtained an IUD. Being somewhat hypercautious on the issue and the fact that Ryan used condoms from the first without question, she never really thought to mention it to him—actually, she had somewhat forgotten about it. She was incredibly happy she had it though, as when she placed his condoms in her toiletry bag, she felt that the wrappers had been pierced. When she held one to the light, there were clearly holes. Her relationship with Ryan ended that day and she’d been decidedly alone since.

She hated that she still felt a bit broken from that experience and really detested that she also felt more than a bit intimidated by Eliza. Whatever she was, you couldn’t deny Eliza was beautiful and most likely instinctively knew how to please a man. Charlotte needed to breathe and saw the early morning light through the porthole. She decided to quietly make her way to the deck.

The sun was barely breaking and the air was already warm. “This is the safest place in the world,” she said quietly to herself as her eyes surveyed the steep cliffs and rocks that embraced the cove and its sandy beach. "There is no way humanly possible to access this cove by land and by sea, it must be fairly invisible from the open water," she thought to herself as she unbuttoned her blouse.

*****

Sidney opened his eyes and was surprised not to see Charlotte. He was an early riser and had never met anyone who beat him out of bed. She had fallen asleep before him and while he wasn’t far behind, he did enjoy watching her for a short while and even brushed her hair from her face when she pulled the blanket about her shoulders in her sleep. He sat up and swung his feet to the floor. He relived some of their discussion. Just thinking about what happened on the yacht made his stomach turn—both for her experience and for what Eliza had become—and he knew there were things Charlotte most likely forgot to say, but they would deal with that later. He would rather think about how much he enjoyed her stories of growing up in a very large family and how she sought refuge with her grandfather and his boats. And he smiled now and laughed a little at her expression when she finally realized it was his boat they were on. Then his mind went to her kiss and how she felt in his arms. It was that thought that spurred him from the bunk to find her.

Sidney went from room to room, but she was nowhere to be found. He took the steps to the deck, spying first her clothes laying near the stern then seeing her in her white bra and panties standing with her back to him in the water near the shore. The sun was still rising and all of its colors were illuminating the cliffs in brilliant designs. It was a sheer miracle, but all Sidney saw was Charlotte.

It may have been when Sidney audibly caught his breath that Charlotte became aware of his presence. She turned to him, opening her arms wide to the cliffs, “so beautiful!” she exclaimed, smiling broadly.

“My thoughts exactly,” Sidney said to himself, never taking his eyes off her.

They looked at each other from a distance, then Charlotte shouted, “dive in! What are you waiting for!”

Sidney thought it best to parallel her wardrobe and dived into the water in his boxers. He watched her eyes as he emerged and walked through the waves toward her, wondering if kissing her now would be appropriate. He didn’t have to wonder long as she eagerly grasped his arm and pulled him to her.

“Good morning and thank you for this,” she said as her eyes scanned the cove. She laced her arms around his waist and gently kissed him then pulled his lower lip into her mouth, biting it seductively. Charlotte had decided that she would follow every instinct this morning, no matter where it led.

Sidney looked at her for a moment to first ensure he was actually awake, and second, that this was her intent. Assured, he pulled her close to him until there was no space between them and kissed her with more passion than he had displayed the night before or possibly ever in his life.

Charlotte was overwhelmed but was not about to let go. Every part of her was alive and while this was all new, she was committed to giving Sidney all of the pleasure she could. His kisses combined with his wandering hands pulsed her blood everywhere but to her legs, which was making standing a significant challenge and she broke their kiss to lead him to the shore. She kept his hand in hers as she laid on the sand and pulled him down to her, greeting him with a hungry kiss as her hands found the waistband of his boxers and worked to pull down the wet fabric.

Her speed was a bit confounding to Sidney but he could not refuse. Even though she did not know it, he had been aroused many times by her already and he had heroically resisted. But now, with her eager hands and ravenous mouth, he was having trouble containing himself. It seemed to him that within seconds she had removed her panties and was leading him into her, and even though he thought to slow, her hips encouraged him to go fast. It was like nothing he experienced and he felt as if his life had completely changed and everything was now bright and hopeful as he fell down into her with her arms caressing his back, her voice quiet and loving as she whispered his name.

They laid in the sand for a bit, and when he kissed her gently and tried to move his hands to pleasure her, she seemed a bit surprised and started to stand, quickly finding her panties. They looked at each other for a moment, and while she smiled at him, Charlotte suddenly felt she had done something very wrong when she studied his confused eyes. She needed to escape and dove into the water. 

Sidney shook the sand from his boxers and redressed as he watched her swim back to the Fife. While he was most certainly enraptured by her, Sidney didn’t like the feeling that the pleasure was one-sided. He was at least a few years older than Charlotte and wondered if all she had experienced were selfish lovers. He dove into the water, following her back to the boat, committed to rectifying that before they left the cove.

*****


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Thanks so much for reading and for all of your kindness. I hope you have a beautiful day!

Charlotte stood on the deck wringing the water from her hair and simply felt like an idiot. She thought Sidney enjoyed himself, but his eyes didn’t convey that in the least. She knew she wasn’t good at sex—Ryan had reminded her of that more than a few times—which is why he said she couldn’t achieve the same pleasure he did. When he was done, they were done and he usually either just walked out of the room or fell asleep. “What was I thinking?” she asked herself, feeling it would probably be better to just swim back to Sanditon—or better yet, the south pacific.

Charlotte’s back was to Sidney as he climbed onto the deck. He stood looking at her, the water dripping down his body and pooling at his feet. “She has absolutely no idea how amazing she is,” he thought to himself as his eyes took in every curve of her body. He rubbed his stubbled face, “Charlotte,” he said, but she didn’t turn around.

“Charlotte,” he said a decibel louder, beginning to walk toward her.

Charlotte hesitated before facing him, trying to think up some way to apologize for not being good enough and explain what she considered to be her rather immature behavior for leaving so quickly. When she turned, he was only inches from her. He lightly grasped her hands and smiled seductively at her. 

“Thank you,” he said softly. “That was more than lovely, but I don’t think we’re quite done,” he said pulling her hands to his chest and her body closer to his.

“I thought you were,” she said nervously, biting her lip. 

“But you weren’t,” he said with a bit of a smirk.

She looked at him for a moment. “It was fine,” she said, trying half-heartedly to pull her hands from his, but he was not willing to give.

Sidney didn’t have much of an ego, but he did know that he was better than ‘fine’ and was more than up to proving her wrong.

Charlotte could see that he was taking her comment as something of an insult and was embarrassed in trying to correct it. “I’m sorry,” she said, clearly fumbling for the right words.

Sidney felt a little bad that she was struggling so, but had to admit he was finding some of this charming as she seemed to confirm that perhaps she wasn’t as experienced as she acted on the shore. He kept his eyes focused on her face, very interested to hear what she was about to say next.

“I’m just not good at sex,” she managed to utter. “I can’t seem to find the pleasure that…” she stopped and closed her eyes not able to say it all. “And I just didn’t want you to waste your time.”

Sidney released her hands and lifted her lips to his. “I thought I told you before, let me choose how I want to spend my time,” he said, before kissing her softly. He looked at her lovingly, studying her eyes to gauge her willingness before he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her to his chest, his fingers resting just under the waistband of her panties. He kissed her passionately until she broke the kiss to inhale and then he laid kisses down her neck and nibbled her earlobe before sincerely whispering, “I don’t know who said you’re not good, but they are absolutely wrong. You are remarkable.”

His genuine words, the sound of his voice, the feeling of his lips, and the heat from his breath electrified every cell in her body and Charlotte suddenly felt entirely new.

Sidney moved his hands lightly up her sides, resting them just under her arms so that his thumbs grazed the sides of her full breasts that were frustratingly still covered in the white fabric of her bra. He caressed softly as he leaned down to place soft kisses across her collar bone, down her chest to the most tender skin between her breasts. Worshiping her was his objective for the rest of at least the morning, if not the entire day. Leaving wet kisses and gentle bites along the way, he traveled back to her ear then whispered, “I’m going to make love to you.” He bit her earlobe gently, adding, “and, I’m going to take my time.” He released all but her hand and led her to his cabin.

*****

Diana was readying her guest room for Arthur. Usually, when he came down from London, he’d just take a room at the resort, but Diana thought it would be good to have him with her so they could strategize as necessary. She was thankful he could rearrange his classes for the rest of the week and only had to do one of them virtually— _Freedom and the Common Good_ —for his senior philosophy majors. Late the next morning was Arthur’s scheduled arrival and with the way Diana was moving, it might take her that long to get the room done. Last night was charming and she couldn’t stop thinking about it. Every time she passed the mirror, she’d find herself smiling. She felt like something of a teenager again, and to her own surprise, she was truly enjoying it.

Although most others saw her as lighthearted, Diana never really felt so since the death of her parents and everything that followed, including the recurring tension among her brothers. They most definitely all loved each other, but they were all such different men with unique motivations that tested their bond—sometimes so much so, she thought that bond might break.

Stringer’s smile as he walked her to the front door and then his sweet kiss on her cheek was the evening’s memory that was playing in her head when the doorbell rang. That’s why she blushed slightly when she answered the door and found Stringer standing with that same bashful smile. 

He couldn’t help but smile, but he wished he hadn’t. Stringer had to ask now about another of her brothers and wasn’t quite sure how to go about it.

Diana welcomed him into the kitchen as she put on the kettle. She could tell that he was there for more than reminiscing about the prior evening, so she thought it best to get it out on the table and turned to look him in the eyes. “Okay James, first, I had a wonderful evening last night and would very much like to see you again.”

Stringer smiled at her, very much liking her direct approach and nodded.

“Second, what are you here for—out with it,” she said, then turned to take out two mugs from the cabinet.

Stringer pulled out one of the stools by the kitchen counter and sat down heavily. “What do you know about Tom’s relationship with Eliza?” he asked, his expression now looking much more like the detective he was instead of her admirer.

Diana looked at him, trying to assess his agenda and gave him only silence—hoping he’d reveal more.

“What would you say if I told you I saw Tom leave her yacht in the early hours of the morning?” he said, not intending to share that detail, but knowing she was being silent to wait him out.

“I’d say you’re lying,” she looked at him with a mix of anger and fear as the kettle began to boil.

*****

His teasing was driving her crazy. Sidney repeatedly came within millimeters of where Charlotte wanted to be touched but kept pulling his hand away to caress her elsewhere. They were standing at the edge of the bed and he was intentionally trying to incense her. She’d try to kiss him and he’d instead bring his lips to her collarbone. She’d try to bring his hand to her breast and he’d stroke her hip. She was clearly frustrated and Sidney couldn’t be happier. And now it was time to get down to work.

He first decided to give her what she wanted and found her swollen lips and kissed her passionately, his tongue claiming each morsel of her mouth as his hands unclasped her bra, something he’d been looking forward to doing all morning. The intensity of his kiss increased as his hands cupped her full breasts—his thumbs caressing her eager nipples. Charlotte inhaled deeply as he released her lips and made his way slowly down her neck and chest, briefly leaving warm kisses on each nipple—enjoying the salty taste of the sea on her skin as he continued lower. On his knees, Sidney looked up at her as he slowly removed her panties, giving her a mischievous grin.

Charlotte’s look was one of disbelief. Her entire body was pulsing and she had never felt so completely under someone else’s control—of course, she didn’t know how wrong she was as she hadn’t experienced what was to come next.

Sidney ran his fingers lightly up the inside of her legs, pushing them wider apart. He placed his hands firmly on her round bottom, giving her a gentle spank with his left hand, then pulled her to him as he began to kiss first her inner thighs then higher—his tongue and lips exploring. His sometimes gentle, sometimes thrusting actions had Charlotte enraptured and she leaned slightly to grasp his shoulders to keep from falling.

Charlotte had read about this in some of the romance novels she cautiously hid in the bottom of her bureau draw that she had devoured while in the south pacific, but never thought this happened in real life.

As she dug her fingers into his shoulders, Sidney began to feel Charlotte finally lose control and his hands stabilized her then he helped her collapse onto the bed, holding her to him while he gently kissed her cheek. Charlotte looked at him with hazy eyes and mouthed his name without enough energy to make it audible.

He nuzzled his lips to her ear, kissing lightly. “Better than fine, right?” he teasingly whispered.

She found her voice and said weakly, “just a bit,” and gave him a seductive smirk.

Sidney wouldn’t give her too much time to recover and he lowered his head to her breasts and began to work to incite her arousal again. Within a short time, her hands began to find him and her touch was making it fairly difficult for him to concentrate on only her pleasure. She tried to reach her hands to remove his still damp boxers, and that was proving too hard for him to ignore. He definitely wanted them on for a reason.

Sidney looked up at her, grinning, “I’m working, stop touching me.” He kept her gaze until she removed her hands then he returned to gently teasing her nipple, his hand now exploring her soft curls while his fingers stroked her wet folds. Again, she wouldn’t stop reaching for him—caressing any bit of skin she could touch—and he found his arousal growing.

“Stop it Charlotte, keep your hands to yourself,” he scolded as he stopped and gently grasped her hands and placed them by her head on the bed. After a short time, when she could feel the excitement stir again, she started to place her hands in his hair, caressing his neck—her fingers stroking his ears. 

“Charlotte!,” he gasped. Every touch of her hands was sending pulses through his body, strengthening his erection. “Stop interrupting me,” he growled roguishly and pulled her arms over her head, then placed her fingers so she could clutch the slats of the antique headboard instead of him.

His fingers continued to stroke while his mouth and tongue worshiped her breasts and nipples. She was again losing control and upon climax, a loud crack shocked them both. Sidney looked up and met her eyes, then looked at the headboard. “You broke a 110-year-old bed,” he said, somewhat amazed, and then laughed in disbelief. 

“It’s your fault—in every way,” she said breathlessly. “Come here.”

She kissed him with the power of every happiness she ever had or would ever experience and wrapped her arms around him as they took equal pleasure in each other for the rest of the morning. 

*****

Diana and Stringer were on their second cup of tea without a word. Stringer had accused Tom of meeting secretly with Eliza and Diana had accused Stringer of lying. Unfortunately, while she so wanted to think it a lie, Diana knew Stringer was only capable of the truth. Tom may be ambitious and too easily led by the fashionable set, but he would not betray Sidney. At least that’s what Diana kept trying to tell herself even though she had to question why those models of the club’s expansion had been in his office so long—even after Sidney had refused to release his land on multiple occasions. The questions ran through her mind over and over: _Was Tom so desperate to achieve his dream that he’d sell out his brother? And did he know what Eliza was really capable of?_

Stringer watched as Diana struggled with these thoughts and felt horrible to do this to her, but knew she deserved the truth—whatever may come of it.

“We need to talk to Tom,” she said, breaking the long silence. Stringer placed his hand on hers then began to stand.

“He’s not in Sanditon today—he has meetings in Leicester and won’t be back until tomorrow.” She looked up at him. “Come with me to Tom’s house tomorrow night for dinner and we’ll put all of this to rest.” She looked at him and smiled weakly as he returned his hand to hers and held it tightly.

*****

Sidney watched Charlotte as she dozed in his arms, fairly confident he'd throw the first punch if he ever met the man who made such a brilliant woman feel so insecure about her sex appeal. The intense feeling to protect her had most certainly doubled over the last 24 hours and, as she slept, he vowed to keep her safe no matter what. In just a few short days, his life had undeniably changed and even though he couldn’t erase the challenges that he knew awaited them in Sanditon, he felt so much stronger, happier, and hopeful with her by his side.

Charlotte slept soundly for nearly an hour and Sidney pulled her closer to him as she stirred awake, his embrace sparking her memory to reveal the truth. 

She smiled lovingly at him. “It was you, wasn’t it?” she asked. “It wasn’t Diana. You saved me,” she said as she stroked his cheek with her hand.

He nodded, while he brushed a stray lock away from her face softly behind her ear.

She lifted her head to kiss him lightly in thanks. She waited a moment. “And you hit him?” she asked.

He nodded again, “I didn’t want him to hurt you.”

She met his eyes and paused before saying, “we need to go—it was Edward Denham and he’s with Eliza.”


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all the support! Have a great day -- stay safe and healthy everyone!

Charlotte sat near the bow of the boat, her body swimming in a pair of Sidney’s shorts and a t-shirt. While they were happily holed up in his stateroom, the wind apparently had blown her clothes overboard. Sidney did not see it as much of a loss, and if she were honest with herself, Charlotte was enjoying the feeling of wearing his things and imagined it was something like his embrace, albeit a very pale imitation.

With her eyes closed, she lifted her face to the sun, the light and the warmth were lovely, but not what made her smile—her smile was due to the feeling that part of her life was somehow now just beginning. As someone who excelled at her profession—a profession so thoroughly based in facts—it was rather a humbling revelation to learn that she had lived under the influence of someone else’s judgment of her abilities for so long. It was an insidious thing that had unknowingly wormed its way into her subconscious. She wondered if it might be the same for Sidney—if he had truly broken free from all of Eliza’s influence.

At the sound of the anchor being raised, she opened her eyes and watched Sidney mentally run through his checklist as he prepared the boat to depart. It was hard to take her eyes off of him—not because she knew every inch of him was physically beautiful, it was because his soul was beautiful. He’d been selfless since they met—all he’d done from the start was take care of her to an extent she had never known, and she felt she had done so very little for him. And she smiled with a bit of guilt to think she had also broken the headboard of his antique bed original to the Fife.

She hated ending their time together in this most amazing place, but she would not let Edward, Eliza or any of them go unpunished for what they had done. It was not so much that she needed justice for herself—although she most certainly wanted it—it was for others. She was confident that she was not their first victim and shivered at the fact that her lack of memory of that night may have let them claim another.

Sidney knew she was deep in thought when he began to ready the boat and didn’t want to interrupt her. He was now feeling a bit of a thrill as he felt her eyes upon him. It was strange to feel such happiness. It seemed to him as if this was the first time in his life that he was being seen as the man he was—completely himself. He had no pretense, no fabrication and she still gave herself to him, still looked at him now with loving eyes. He was about to start easing the Fife out of the cove but paused. “Charlotte, if anyone inquires, just tell them we were out on the ocean, okay?” he asked, looking for her agreement.

She looked at him, questioning.

“I’ve never told anyone about this place—I’d like to keep it our secret—no one else in the world needs to know,” he said, thinking how happy he was that he had shared his private treasure with her.

“Of course,” she smiled. “But the person who owns all this land certainly must love it here as well.”

He thought for a brief moment, completely trusting her. “You’re right, I do,” he said, then started the engine.

*****

Tom was not happy with how things were going in Leicester. The first set of investors had turned down his offer and he held little hope that his efforts at the bank would pan out this afternoon. Desperately regretting the short-sighted decision he had made last year to sell some of his private shares of the resort to raise capital for a now-failed venture, Tom pulled his car to the side of the road to think.

He couldn’t believe he was in this position again. He had sworn that he would never again take unnecessary risks—but the deal seemed rock solid and if it succeeded, he could pay Sidney back and more for all the times Sidney had bailed him out. If Tom couldn’t get the financing and agreements today, that would be it. He’d tell Mary first thing when he returned in the morning. He so hoped that perhaps she’d be able to forgive and help him think through it. But he knew that once he told her all the real sordid details, he may have to deal with the reality that she may leave and take the children. He wouldn’t blame her. He’d then need to tell his sibling and he worried that when he did, he’d lose their respect and, more importantly, their love. He knew that they would see him as having betrayed them all. And Sidney—Tom feared most what Sidney would do to defend those he loved.

*****

With the number of notifications going off on each of their phones, they were clearly back in cell range. Sidney put his arm protectively around Charlotte as they both reviewed the messages from Stringer and Diana. “Why don’t you go below and give him a call to let him know everything so he can question Edward,” Sidney said, then gently took her hand before she turned to leave. “We should be back in the harbor by the top of the hour in case he wants to question me as well,” he said, then gave her a soft kiss. “It’s all going to be okay.”

Charlotte smiled a bit weakly, “I know it is—I just want this all to be over.”

As Charlotte descended below deck, Sidney scrolled through his other messages and texts—apart from Diana’s, most were regarding work. He stopped at one from his friend Babington sent earlier that morning.

_Come for drinks today—only here until tomorrow morning and then heading out diving. New opportunity to discuss._

Sidney texted back.

_A lot going on here—will explain. Will confirm later this afternoon. May bring a new friend._

*****

Diana and Stringer stood waiting at Sidney’s slip for their return. Charlotte’s call was just the information Stringer needed and he was quick to head to the harbor to seek out Edward. Unfortunately, Stringer was not pleased with what he found. He had promised Diana that he would call when he heard from Charlotte and was glad now that she was there with him. Diana could sense his distress and gently placed her hand on his cheek, turning his face to hers. “James, it will all work out,” she said lovingly and placed a soft kiss on his lips.

Charlotte could see Diana and Stringer in the distance and smiled at their kiss, nudging Sidney to look. “Well he’s played the very long game—he’s loved her since they were teenagers,” he said. He leaned his lips close to Charlotte’s ear, “good thing she’s not my girlfriend, right?”

Charlotte lovingly hit his arm, feeling a bit foolish remembering her assumptions and also happy that Sidney was trying to make things a bit lighter. That feeling didn’t last though as they came closer to the dock and Charlotte saw Stringer’s expression.

*****

Sidney could see Charlotte was exhausted as she fumbled with the keys to her apartment. He took them from her and quickly unlocked the deadbolt.

Hearing that Eliza’s yacht had left before dawn—destination unknown—was not the news Charlotte expected from Stringer and she was feeling a strange combination of rage at the lack of justice, but oddly quieted knowing they were far away. And to her surprise, more than anything, Charlotte wanted Eliza as far away from Sidney as possible. Stringer was desperately distraught, feeling that he had tipped them off by prematurely interviewing Eliza—but he of course didn’t know the information that was to come—and they most definitely all shared some of the blame in that.

Charlotte stood at the window looking at the harbor when Sidney came up behind her and gently wrapped his arms around her, nuzzling his cheek just above her ear. “Where are you? Are you going to be okay?” he asked hugging her to him.

She didn’t respond, she just turned her head to his and placed a gentle kiss at the curve of his jaw. A discussion was not what she wanted, instead she desired the comfort and security of his body. She turned into his arms and kissed the skin under his Adam’s apple—she so loved that soft area. Her hands found the hem of his shirt, breaking the contact of her lips with his skin only when lifting it quickly over his head. As she moved her mouth to leave wet kisses on his muscular chest, she traveled her hands down his taut stomach and quickly unfastened his belt.

Sidney feared she was going too fast again and gently grasped her hands, pulling them to encircle his waist and bringing her close to him. He cupped her face in his hands, needing to connect his eyes with hers so he could see what she truly needed from him then set out to give her just that. He started by softly kissing her lips with tender passion, slowly caressing her back with long strokes. Every one of his movements was slow and caring—from the removal of her borrowed clothes to the pressure and intensity of each touch to the length of each kiss.

His tenderness was exactly what Charlotte didn’t know she desired. He gently lifted her to him and she wrapped her legs around his waist as he carried her to her bedroom. His lips were locked with hers in a passionate and loving kiss when Sidney had to break the embrace with a smile. “This should be interesting,” he said teasingly, looking over her shoulder at the bed.

She let her forehead fall to his shoulder as she realized what he meant. She turned her head up to look at him. “I’m only supposed to be here a few months and didn’t want to waste the money,” she smiled, shaking her head lightly. “I was only planning to use it to sleep.”

He smiled at her and kissed her tenderly. “We will just need to be very, very close,” he said as he laid her on the twin-sized bed. “And maybe let’s not have you break this one,” he whispered as he began to gently kiss her earlobe.

It was a bit awkward at first, with every movement contained and Sidney’s arm slipping off the bed twice, allowing his full weight to fall on her. It was Charlotte who took control and switched to the top position—something she had never tried before. She felt wonderfully herself as she took him into her and looked down into his caring eyes. They kept the gaze as his hands caressed her breasts, her hips then his fingers stroked her wet folds as they both climaxed. Sidney caught her on her decline and pulled her to his chest—loving her weight on his body.

Neither wanted to move—they simply enjoyed the comfort of each other. The repeated alerts on Sidney’s phone though would not let them continue such bliss. He reached down to the floor and fished his phone out of his pants pocket.

“Babington,” Sidney said aloud, forgetting about his request for drinks. While definitely not the best day for it, he did owe much of what he had to Babington and rarely got to see him.

“Esther Babington?” Charlotte asked. 

“Yes, well her husband. They’ve asked for drinks – do you want to go? Please come…” he said, knowing if she declined, he’d most likely stay with her.

“They are actually very nice supporters of my work. I’ve met them several times. We’ve always been focused on the work—but I think we hit it off,” Charlotte said, as she looked up from his chest.

Sidney was about to text back that they’d be there in one hour but looking at Charlotte as she now propped herself up, her breasts just brushing his chest, he decided two was much more doable.

*****

Sidney held Charlotte’s hand as they approached the docks. The void left by Eliza’s missing yacht seemed huge and Sidney squeezed her hand as they passed the open slip on their way to Babington’s boat. It wasn’t garish like some the others, but more of a classic ocean vessel from the 1940s that had been tastefully updated with the latest amenities.

Babington greeted Charlotte with a friendly hug, much like he always did when they met, but Esther simply raised her wine glass in a toast and took a sip. Sidney gave Babington a questioning look—he had never seen Esther drink more than one glass in an evening and clearly, she had already downed a few. Sidney walked to Esther to give her a kiss on the cheek—when he did, she stumbled a little.

After a few minutes of light discussion, Esther refilled her glass then laced her arm with Charlotte’s. “Let’s leave the boys alone to talk—I’ll show you some of the places we’re planning to dive this week,” Esther said, leading Charlotte to her office.

Sidney waited until they were out of the room, “what’s going on? Is everything okay?”

Babington took a sip of his drink, “I have no clue and she won’t tell me. She was fine this morning and then went to the club for a massage and came back in a snit. I’m sure she’ll tell me when she’s ready,” he paused for a moment deeply caring about Esther but knowing when to give her space. “Let me share this idea with you…”

*****

Esther closed the office door and looked at Charlotte, taking a rather large gulp of her wine. “There is no easy way to say this,” Esther started. “So here it is. There is a nasty little rumor going around that you provide ‘special favors’ to big donors.”

Charlotte was confused at first, then, within seconds, her stomach dropped and she felt sick when she understood Esther’s meaning. Apparently, Charlotte’s look must still have been one of confusion though. Esther rolled her eyes, not so much at Charlotte, but at the entire situation. “They’re saying you’re fucking for funds,” Esther said, knowing the wine was encouraging her to be so blunt. While she hated wasting time on a false rumor, she knew it could potentially be extremely damaging and wanted it stopped immediately.

It had been Esther that recommended to her husband that they become significant supporters of Ocean Funds. For years, Esther hated anything to do with the water, but after her first ocean dive and seeing firsthand the beauty of aquatic life, she fell in love and was one of the organization’s most passionate advocates. This rumor wasn’t just insulting to Charlotte, it made Esther look foolish and Esther never liked to appear foolish.

“That is a dirty lie,” Charlotte said, so full of anger she was sure the men heard her in the other room. 

Esther put down her glass, feeling rather brutish for how she had approached the subject. “I know it is, I saw when you slapped that jerk for propositioning you last month. Nonetheless, people will believe it’s true and that puts everything—the entire organization and all of your research—into question.”

Charlotte could barely breathe—if these people even knew her sex life up until today, they’d most likely laugh at it. She needed to focus and get to the bottom of this. “Who is spreading this lie?” she asked, not letting herself even think of crying.

“It was actually one of your donors, Eliza Campion,” Esther said, retrieving her drink.

Charlotte tried to put the timeline together—“but she’s gone, when did this happen?”

Esther took another sip and was starting to slur just a little. “Oh, her yacht left with her boy toys—including, as I just learned, my absolutely despicable former stepbrother. Disgusting man,” she said, looking sad and defeated as she leaned against her desk. “You know, I’ve never told anyone this, but I found out shortly before my mother died that Edward was the reason I was sent away from Sanditon to boarding school. My mother caught him in my room watching me sleep while pleasuring himself. For years I thought I had done something wrong to be sent so far away, and all the time it was him.”

Charlotte looked at her concerned and helped her to a chair. She gave Esther a moment then asked, “I don’t understand, what do you mean her yacht left?”

“Oh, yes,” Esther returned from her troubling memories. “Eliza told me all of these things about you at the club this morning. Her yacht and her playthings are gone, but she’s taken the largest suite at the resort for the rest of the season.”


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi -- just a quick thank you for the comments. They mean so much to me :) Have a lovely day!

Eliza stood on the balcony of her suite and looked out over the ocean. She was feeling a little lonely without Edward—and she didn’t like that feeling at all. She couldn’t care less about the others, but she and Edward had shared so many of the same appetites. They had been playmates since she was a teenager—no matter who the other was with—and she missed his company.

Edward was not happy to leave and made that very clear. If he was just patient a little longer, Eliza promised that he’d have everything he wanted and more than he could imagine. She thought to herself, if she had just forbidden him from playing his games in Sanditon, then he’d be there now—but it was probably better he wasn’t. She knew that every woman he encountered was fair game and that once he found his prey, he was just like her, he wouldn’t give up until he devoured it. His insatiable hunger could end up making a mess for her right now—she just needed a few more days and he could do whatever he wanted with Charlotte after the regatta.

She smiled—she did so enjoy his games though. There was a delicious pleasure in just taking what you want, when you want it—no consequences, ever. Eliza loved how people could be so easily manipulated by drugs, by sex, by fear, and especially by money—or even just the promise of it. And she did have to thank Edward—or more accurately, his lust—with throwing that unexpected pawn in her lap. Charlotte was just such a wonderful bonus—and since Edward had no idea of the bigger game, it was all just lovely kismet. Eliza had only lost one game in her life and she had long planned for a rematch. Give her a few more days and she’d have all the pieces in place to not only own the resort, but Sidney too.

*****

They barely made it to the bathroom. Charlotte held Esther’s hair as she became sick from the wine. She walked Esther to her room, helped her clean up, and tucked her into bed. As Charlotte was about to open the door to leave, Esther called her back. “I’m sorry Charlotte, I’m such a mess and I handled this all so badly,” she said, reaching for Charlotte’s hand. “My husband has been an amazing friend to me. This is the first time I’ve advocated for something I believed in and he financially backed it so fervently. He even put his company behind it. And now to have all of these rumors and to have Edward anywhere near it—I just don’t want Babs to think me foolish,” she said, her eyes filling with tears. “I know this is all a lie and I’ll stand with you, but I doubt others will. You will need to be ready for that.”

Charlotte smiled weakly and gave Esther’s hand a squeeze. “Charlotte, what have you done to make an enemy who is so utterly unscrupulous?” Esther asked.

She looked at Esther with an appearance of complete innocence and Esther nodded in sympathy. With that question, the wine and its effects, Esther fell asleep.

After leaving a large glass of water and some aspirin on the nightstand, Charlotte stepped outside the stateroom and stood in the corridor. She could hear Sidney and Babington laughing and smelled the faint aroma of cigar smoke. Esther’s question repeated in her head and she figured the best person to answer it was Eliza. She knew what she needed to do.

*****

Diana and Stringer were sitting at the back table of her favorite local dive bar. They were both finishing their second bottle of cheap beer and sharing a basket of fries. Diana’s recipe for Stringer’s melancholy consisted of a steady mix of slop pool, bad alcohol, and fried foods—she thought the poppers should be the next course. She imagined this is what they would have been doing years ago when they were university age if they would have had enough courage to actually share their feelings.

Stringer excused himself to order another round and stopped at the jukebox—something rarely used by the locals but always frequented by the yacht set when they stumbled in. He put in his money and selected the same song for two plays, then stepped to Diana, extending his hand. It was an older song, but she remembered dancing with him to it at a party years ago—Coldplay's _Fix You_.

They danced without speaking for the first play, then as the second started, Stringer asked, “can you help fix me?”

Diana looked up at him, “I thought I was the one who was broken.”

Stringer looked at her lovingly and kissed her gently—so enraptured by the moment that he never heard Charlotte’s call. 

*****

Charlotte stood in the lobby of the resort and tried Stringer again with no luck. She left another message sharing Eliza’s whereabouts—this time though, with a bit less zeal—and paced back and forth before heading to the front desk to get Eliza’s room number. Nearly there, she stopped cold. Charlotte thought she was acting with all logic, but realized her response was all passion.

“Shit,” she said under her breath. “It’s a game—but what the hell is she trying to win?” Charlotte knew the tenets of game theory and Eliza’s last move was all about unsettling her. Most likely, Eliza would expect her to show up after talking with Esther and would have a brilliant counter move while Charlotte would just be all fury and temper. And considering she agreed with Esther—Eliza had no scruples—she was definitely not operating on a fair playing ground.

Eliza had just lost at least three of her allies—and Charlotte began to evaluate her position. She believed she could count on Sidney, Diana and potentially Stringer. While Esther said she’d stick with her, drunk commitments were not always that reliable. Charlotte realized she needed to find Clara as soon as possible to fully understand where she stood.

Charlotte took a step back and looked at her watch. It had only been twenty minutes since secretly leaving Babington’s. Turning on her heels, she headed back, not sure what to say to Sidney.

****

A few minutes later Charlotte was at the yacht about to mount the gangway. She was fairly frustrated that Stringer had yet to return her messages and then chastised herself for expecting him to be at her beck and call. “Where’d you take off to?” Sidney asked from the deck, startling her.

She didn’t know how to tell him about Eliza so she just looked at his cigar.

Sidney quickly put it out. “Nasty, I know—but it’s something of a tradition between Babington and me when we get together. Babs went down to check on Esther— I’m thinking it may be time to go.”

Charlotte nodded and joined Sidney so they could say their goodbyes.

*****

Walking back to the Fife—because there was no way he was sleeping in her bed again— Sidney enjoyed lacing his arm in Charlotte’s and holding her tight to him. He felt that a cloud had lifted now that Eliza and her crew were gone. While he violently hated that Edward was not behind bars, he felt like at least some immediate threat was gone.

One look at Charlotte though, he could tell she didn’t feel the same. Her brow was furrowed and she appeared as if she was struggling with something. He stopped and smiled at her, questioning.

Charlotte knew she needed to say it—she had just realized the prize Eliza was playing for. “Eliza is here and I think she is here for you.”

Sidney brushed it off quickly. “I doubt that—and even so, it won’t happen,” he said giving her a broad smile. “I’m already taken,” quickly hugging Charlotte to him.

Charlotte decided it was best to table the conversation until tomorrow and they could deal with the situation with fresh eyes in the morning

*****

The night was anything but calm. Sidney tossed and turned and when Charlotte tried to stroke his chest to comfort him, he kissed her gently on her forehead and went up to the deck for air. She waited a half hour, but he didn’t return and she fell asleep. 

Sidney sat on the deck of his boat. Charlotte knew he’d wanted a Fife since he was a teenager and he couldn’t tell her, but it was Eliza that taught him about Fife vessels. It was actually Eliza that had taught him many things—from how to please a woman to how to dance the waltz to how to doubt himself so desperately that he thought himself worthless. He knew that it was dangerous to let his mind spend so much time in the past. He also knew the future was amazingly bright and he had a phenomenal woman who had quickly claimed his heart now laying in his bed—so he wondered why the hell was he spending the night thinking about Eliza. 

When she woke early the next morning, Charlotte found Sidney sitting in the galley, nearly a pot of coffee gone. He gave her an exhausted yet loving smile and held his hand out for her to join him. “I’m sorry,” he said, as he guided her to sit on his knee. She was wearing one of his white t-shirts and the shadow of every curve was a reminder of what he had missed last night. But much more than that, it was her eyes that held a look of care and concern that he had never seen anyone have for him before—ever. Sidney caressed her cheek, his eyes studying her face as if looking at her for the first time. 

Charlotte could feel him taking in every part of her and desperately wanted to know what he was thinking. He seemed so close yet so far away. She wanted to talk about Eliza and all she said to Esther but realized that perhaps that was not what Sidney needed right now and placed her hand lovingly on the back of his neck, gently pulling his lips to hers. After a few soft kisses, Sidney pulled away, his eyes tired and apologetic.

“I have a lot to do today,” Charlotte began. “I really need to get back to my research and spend some time on the water,” she said, standing up to fetch a mug for some coffee. “And I need to talk to Clara,” she thought to herself.

“I’ll go with you,” Sidney said, starting to get up.

“How about I call you when I’m heading out on the boat—that will give you some time to get some rest,” Charlotte smiled, took a sip of her coffee then spilled the rest down the drain, suddenly anxious to get back to her apartment thinking about how Sidney pulled away from her kiss.

Sidney sat down heavily and nodded to her.

*****

Charlotte had worked all morning in her apartment—door locked, the alarm on as she promised Sidney she would when she left the Fife. Occasionally, she’d stand by the window and watch him in the distance as he worked on the boat hoping he had at least gotten a little rest. She needed to get on the water and actually didn’t want to call him, but she knew there was no way out of the harbor without him seeing.

She was frustrated that Clara hadn’t picked up or returned her messages and felt the same of Stringer. A knock at the door helped address all of her concerns.

“I’m so sorry,” Stringer said as Charlotte opened the door to him. “I didn’t get your messages until late last night,” he said, taking a seat at the table. “I talked to Eliza this morning—she’s denying knowledge of anything and while she appeared very concerned at the accusations against Edward and said she was willing to help; she promptly gave me the name of her lawyer if I had any further questions.”

“Did she tell you where Edward went?” Charlotte asked.

“She said they decided he needed a ‘break’ and has no idea where he is,” Stringer said, sounding fairly hopeless. “But I do have this for you,” he reached in his pocket and placed her phone on the table. “It’s safe to use.”

Charlotte picked up the phone and scrolled through a few of the texts, stopping at one from Clara. _Decided to take a few days off—traveling with friends—will be back for the regatta. Buy a sexy dress—we have to raise $£$£$£$£!_

Placing the phone back on the table, she asked, “I wouldn’t suppose you or any of your officers would want to spend a few hours this afternoon on a boat, would you?”

Stringer could see it was tough for her to ask, and since he felt he had failed her in this case said, “I’ll arrange it.”

*****

“Okay, if you’re sure Charlotte. I’ll see you later tonight after dinner,” Sidney said and returned the phone to his pocket. He wasn’t happy to learn he was being replaced by an officer, but thought it was probably for the best. He couldn’t stop thinking about Eliza and it wouldn’t be fair to Charlotte to burden her with his brooding mood—she’d already been through enough. And even though the primary threat seemed to have departed, he was happy Charlotte was playing it safe.

When everything happened years ago, he dreamt that Eliza would come looking for him, wanting him back and promising to change. He wondered if that was what was happening now all these years later and let himself remember some of what he thought were the good times. He pulled himself from those thoughts. “I don’t want that,” he said aloud as he much too aggressively sanded the railing. He was getting increasingly angry with himself that he had let Eliza in his head—a space he reserved now only for Charlotte. Sidney suddenly realized the damage he was doing and dropped the sandpaper onto the deck. He rubbed his eyes and decided sleep was the best plan for the rest of the afternoon.

*****

Tom was hoping his siblings would arrive together so he wouldn’t need to explain multiple times why Mary and the children were not there. Mary had not left Tom—yet—however, she did not want the children in earshot of the discussion or the obscenities that were sure to follow. Before leaving, Mary was kind enough to put out a cold buffet as well as a few bottles of wine, one of which Tom was opening when the doorbell rang. This most certainly would not be the family dinner he intended when Diana and he planned to gather to help Sidney with Eliza’s presence. But at least Tom did get his wish as Sidney, Diana and Arthur arrived together.

Arthur had come to Diana’s earlier that day and had already enjoyed a couple of glasses of wine with her as she caught him up on all the recent happenings. He was happy that Diana and Stringer seemed to be finding each other—Arthur had always liked him.

After some brief hugs, Arthur made a beeline to the wine and poured glasses for them all and one for Mary. He stood a little confused looking for her and Tom decided it was best to just get to the point.

“Mary’s not here tonight—I have some things we need to discuss and she didn’t want the children around,” Tom said, taking a seat at the table.

Diana could see the exhaustion on Tom’s face and considered it was good that she hadn’t reminded Stringer about tonight’s dinner. He was preoccupied with finding Edward and that seemed a much better use of his time—but make no mistake, Diana would ask Tom what he was doing on Eliza’s yacht before the night was through.

They all sat at the table and looked at Tom to begin. He started by offering them food—none of them even looked to the buffet—their eyes all focused on Tom. Tom was nervous and Sidney could tell this wouldn’t be good so he laid his hand upon Tom’s, “whatever it is, the Parkers will tackle it together.” Sidney looked at Arthur and Diana and they each placed their hands on top of Sidney’s. 

In all honestly, Arthur was not ‘all in’ to help. Whatever Tom was about to share, they had been through this before and he felt it was a strange co-dependent relationship Tom and Sidney had. Every time Tom failed, Sidney came in as the white knight and rescued him. It had become somewhat boring and Arthur thought Sidney should just let Tom fail and be done with it. 

In his mind, Sidney already knew Tom’s opening words and they were exactly what Tom said. “I made a bad decision on an investment,” Tom began.

“How much did it cost you?” Sidney asked, his voice had genuine care.

Tom hesitated, “it’s not what it cost me, it’s what it cost us.”

Diana and Arthur looked at each other, but Sidney kept his eyes on Tom.

“I sold some of my private shares of the resort to make that failed investment,” he said softly. “I swear it was a sure deal, verified by one of the top investment houses in London.”

Sidney asked him patiently, “what did it cost us, Tom?”

Tom kept his eyes focused on the glass in front of him. “Someone has been buying up the shares from all of our non-family investors.”

Neither Diana nor Arthur knew what that meant, but Sidney immediately did. “So after generations, are you telling me that the Parkers no longer own the controlling shares in the resort?” Sidney was getting angry but was trying extremely hard not to show it. He wasn’t completely successful.

“Not yet, the final sale won’t go through until the day after our annual regatta. The reality though is that it’s all but finalized. I saw the outstanding investors yesterday and the deal they are getting is obscene. The buyer is offering ten times what the shares are worth,” he said, taking a long drink.

They sat quietly for a moment. “Do you know the buyer?” Sidney asked. “Perhaps I can make a deal.”

Tom stood and walked to the buffet to refill his glass. “That’s exactly what she wants—she wants you, Sidney, to make a deal.”

Sidney looked at him already knowing the answer.

It was Diana who asked the question, “what’s the name of the buyer?”

“Eliza,” Tom said, feeling more than disgusted. He needed to tell them the rest but didn’t know how to start.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First, thank you so much for reading and for your comments—they mean more to me than I can express! 😊  
> Second, sorry for the previous chapter—I know it was long but I couldn’t find a good place to break it. This one is shorter.   
> Third, if self-pleasure isn’t okay, you may want to skip the chapter.
> 
> Thanks again and have a wonderful day!

Diana slammed the front door leaving Arthur with Tom and Sidney.

“There goes my ride,” Arthur said, refilling his wine glass. Sidney was trying to cool his temper out on the balcony and Tom was in tears. The fact that Tom knew the trouble Eliza and her “playmates” caused at other resorts that and he still accepted her money and allowed her to dock in Sanditon made everyone but Arthur furious. Arthur had resigned himself to never be surprised or upset by anything Tom said or did.

While the authorities in the other ports could never make a case, owners of those clubs—who Tom knew well—shared with him horrible stories of what their own staffs experienced and many had already banned Eliza from their docks. In reality, some club bans were already in place when her husband was still alive. Even though he was repulsed, Tom also knew all of those resorts had taken a significant financial hit for some time after expelling her and wasn’t ready to put his club in such peril.

It was when Tom heard Diana’s message about a young woman being drugged at the party that he realized his treacherous error and tried to evict Eliza from her slip. His early morning visit was met with laughter and in her pride, Eliza allowed herself to reveal that she would soon have Tom’s job. He’d been trying to rectify the situation since—and was clearly unsuccessful.

Even though he had every right to be, Sidney knew there was no use in being angry and tried to quickly dissipate the emotion. There were bigger issues to deal with. That Tom’s thoughtless actions had put Charlotte in danger was simply too much for him to handle and he needed to lock that away for fear that he may forever sever ties with a brother he loved. He had no idea what he would say to Charlotte on the subject.

Sidney had long known that while Tom was most certainly a visionary, he lacked the common sense to foresee the potential negative consequences of any of his actions. Why Sidney had not ensured he was a signatory on Tom’s shares when they had gone through previous bailouts he didn’t know and was, in part, blaming himself. He trusted his parents for putting Tom in charge and quite honestly, he had no real desire to be involved in the club and was happy that Tom relished the role. Sidney realized that his as well as Arthur’s and Diana’s lack of real interest in anything about the club but its profits was rather lazy and they effectively had allowed a blind captain to stand at the helm for years.

Sidney looked through the window at Tom and Arthur. Tom was a mess and at least Arthur was finally acting like a brother and comforting him instead of playing the somewhat condescending and judgmental academic. Sidney had no doubt that some version of this family situation would make it into Arthur’s next philosophical treatise—just like many others had. He was very clear on what Arthur thought of him and regardless, Sidney knew that he needed to try to return control of the resort to the Parkers and planned to meet with Eliza first thing tomorrow morning.

*****

Charlotte looked at her phone—nothing. She had expected to receive at least a text by now from Sidney. It was getting late and she had an ache for him; she felt he was somehow slipping—relapsing to the man he may have been with Eliza—and she wanted to hold him tight and protect him. Having yet to change the sheets, she laid in her bed, enjoying what she could of his faint scent still on the linens. She remembered the immense pleasure she felt when she straddled him and took him completely inside her while he looked at her with sincere trust. She licked her lips thinking about how their hips found an explosive rhythm, how her breasts felt heavy as they heaved with the movement and how his hand caressed her most sensitive skin where they joined until she fell onto his chest, their bodies both wet with sweat.

She imagined his lovely, strong hands on her and tried to mimic his touches with her own fingers. The memory of Sidney kissing her neck, trailing his tongue down her chest, his soft lips brushing across her nipple before taking it gently in his teeth triggered an intense throbbing and she moved her fingers to satisfy the powerful yearning. Just the thought of him touching her had her wet and nearly there. She stroked herself as he did and manipulated her fingers across her folds and thrust inside as best she could to reach a satisfying climax—one that she knew could have been so much better with his mastery.

A bit breathless, she arose and walked to the window. The Fife was dark—he was either not back from dinner or had turned in for the night without calling her. That last thought made Charlotte feel hollow and she so hoped it wasn’t true.

*****

The cool night air was just what Sidney needed as he took the long way from Tom’s back to the docks. The wind whipped through the Jeep and he felt like it was blowing away all of the tainted thoughts that had cluttered his mind that day. When he first left Tom’s, he felt he needed to go to his safe place to sort everything out and made his plan to head out to the cove. But he soon realized the safest place he knew was no longer the cove, it was in Charlotte’s arms and he needed to be there now.

He quickly parked and all but ran to her building. The stillness of the docks made him pause and he realized how late it was. Looking up at her windows, the lights were out and he thought she must definitely be asleep. He checked his phone, no message from her, no invite to come over. He couldn’t blame her—the way he acted last night and his moody behavior this morning were not terribly endearing. He ran his fingers through his hair and turned disappointed to walk to his boat.

He stood on the dock in front of the Fife, while he didn’t want to wake her, he realized he couldn’t end the night without at least texting her so that when she awoke in the morning, she would know he was thinking of her. _I’m sorry it’s so late. I miss you. Good night Charlotte._

Sidney hit send and looked back at her windows, then turned in surprise when he heard a muffled text alert come from the Fife.

*****

Three fully fluffed pillows cradled Eliza’s back as she laid in bed perusing the files for the resort’s stock on her laptop. Unbeknownst to any of the Parkers, she’d been playing this game for quite a while. It was her father that taught her about the long game, about taking your time, and about manipulating the rules to win at any cost—lessons Edward and her late husband helped her further master.

To say Eliza was a spoiled child would be unequivocally wrong. Her father made sure she worked for every look and every half smile and he wouldn’t grant either unless she had excelled far beyond any standard expectations. With her mother dying in childbirth, Eliza’s only role model was a father who was considered in all circles to be one of the shrewdest businessmen alive with absolutely no patience for anything but winning—more correctly, for absolute domination. His investment firm destroyed most competitors and his use of women was considered both disgusting and legendary depending on who you spoke with. 

Her father encouraged her to use her sex to help her get what she wanted. He taught her a simple formula—create chaos, divert blame, play the victim, then strike—and men rarely expected women to strike. Little did her father know she’d use that formula on him. When Eliza learned that her father wasn’t planning to leave her the entirety of his estate when he died, she devised and executed a multi-year plan that enabled his key competitor, Mr. Campion, to take over and then dismantle her father’s firm while she watched gleefully as the new Mrs. Campion. Her father’s subsequent suicide clearly made her the winner of that game.

There was a brief moment in her life when she thought maybe she could be something different than who she was. Eliza often remembered the day she met the gangly young man when she and her father sailed to Sanditon. Sidney was oblivious to the groups of girls that looked his way, always feeling himself not enough. Eliza could tell Sidney was on the cusp of turning into a classically striking man and there was something all pure and light about him that made her think she could be similarly untainted if she were with him. And the way he always looked so lovingly at her; it was like nothing she had ever known. Unfortunately, Sidney’s more conventional appetites became somewhat boring, especially when she met Edward who shared her same intense drives. Even after finding Edward, Eliza had no intention of ever letting Sidney go. She so liked how he was something of a pet—like an excited puppy peeing on himself to please her. It took years for Sidney to finally walk away—something she would never let him do again.

Her smile was one of complete satisfaction. Sidney was surrounded by such fools. Some of the resort’s investors were old business acquaintances of the late Mr. Parker and were easily swayed with her lucrative offer and her lie that the shares were to be a surprise wedding present for Sidney. They had remembered her from years ago and since they typically only dealt with Tom, they thought her relationship with Sidney still existed and was to finally be made proper. And Tom, he was so easily led. It was simple for her to use her late husband’s firm—now hers—to back the ridiculous venture that so attracted Tom. In fact, Tom was its only target and she knew that he would be so ashamed he wouldn’t go to any financial regulators about it. She had to admit, he did show some backbone when he came to visit her, which was quite a surprise.

She perused her email and confirmed that her deal to obtain the rest of the shares would happen the day after the regatta. Closing her laptop and throwing it gently to the empty side of the bed, she looked at the vacant space and again smiled. She expected that Sidney would be laying there in two days' time and decided to pleasure herself using that thought as inspiration before sleeping. 


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!

Sidney quietly climbed onto the deck to search out the sound and found Charlotte asleep on the bench near the cabin. The alert from his text to her did not wake her and from the rhythm of her breathing, she appeared to be in deep sleep. He leaned his back against the railing and watched her for a short while then turned his attention to the dark waters beyond.

While the way forward wasn’t clear, he knew one thing—he didn’t want to lose Charlotte. He would hate to disappoint all of those Parkers who had come before him and had worked so hard to create Sanditon, but he was determined not to sacrifice what he’d found with her. “Of course, she could be the one to end it,” he thought to himself—thinking of what a mess she’d walked into with his family and his former lover.

He unlocked the cabin door then knelt to rouse Charlotte by gently stroking her cheek. She looked at him—her sleepy eyes asking if she had overstepped by coming. “Thank you,” he said as he placed a gentle kiss on her lips.

“I missed you today,” she said, blinking awake. “Are you alright?”

“I am now,” he smiled. His hands found hers. “Come on,” he said, helping her up to her feet and leading her into the cabin.

Their words were brief. Sidney shared the news about the resort shares but felt no need to go further that night and Charlotte was simply relieved to find him to be more himself and didn’t want their time together to be spent on anything beyond each other—there would be time enough in the morning. They made their way to his stateroom and quietly and slowly removed each other’s clothes—each looking upon the other with understanding and comfort that was truly love, though neither was ready to say the word. They each knew what they had was something sacred and needed to be protected, no matter what challenge came their way. 

Deliberate and deeply tender was the intimacy they shared that night—it was as if they both knew they were going into an unknown tomorrow and they needed to completely take in the other to ready themselves.

*****

They woke much later than expected. Neither Charlotte nor Sidney wanted to leave, but they both knew there was much to do.

Sidney had many calls to make and then planned to meet with Eliza and sort out her designs on the resort. While Charlotte understood, she couldn’t help but feel nervous for him as Eliza clearly had objectives bigger than she believed Sidney fully comprehended. What Eliza was plotting with Charlotte’s reputation now seemed to pale in comparison—but that didn’t mean she was giving up fighting her, she just wouldn’t burden Sidney with it.

Charlotte had agreed to lunch with Esther who said she had plans to support her at tomorrow’s regatta. She had no desire to be the subject of gossip and Esther promised she had no intention of letting that happen.

Sidney and Charlotte parted with may have looked like a simple kiss, but it was a commitment—agreeing that no matter what, they’d meet at the Fife at 4 p.m.

*****

Charlotte felt eyes on her as she walked into the club restaurant—she had no idea how far or even if Eliza’s vicious rumor had made its way into the crowd, but in her mind it had. She originally thought she should quickly find Esther, but stopped herself, took a deep breath and walked calmly with her head held high as she took her seat at Esther’s secluded booth inside the restaurant.

“Well done,” Esther said, placing her menu down to lean over and give Charlotte a welcoming kiss on the cheek. That was definitely not Esther’s usual greeting, but she wanted to make sure that if anyone was watching, they knew she was in full support of Charlotte.

“How was the diving?” Charlotte began.

“Oh, I ended up canceling our plans—a bit hungover,” Esther said, giving a slight smile. “And anyway, we’re not here for that—I talked to Babington about Eliza’s silly rumors and he’s planning a little preparty tomorrow on the yacht for you and Ocean Funds. He wants to show his support—you’ll find he actually doesn’t care what people say, it’s rather lovely really,” she smiled. “We’ve already invited the most influential people I could think of and they can’t refuse an invite from Babs—that would be social suicide since he has so few parties.”

Charlotte smiled broadly and thanked Esther—she had proven true to her word that she would stand by her. They spent the lunch reviewing Esther’s guest list as she filled Charlotte in on the details of each of the attendees.

*****

Eliza surveyed the crowded club restaurant—she had requested a balcony table that provided her with a view of most of the guests and them with a view of her and a soon to arrive Sidney. She was not accustomed to being early but thought it best to demonstrate how much she’d changed—since that is what she needed Sidney to believe.

Sidney was running a few minutes late. The call to his legal counsel asking her to investigate both the specifics of Tom’s failed investment as well as the exact details of the share sales by Sanditon’s investors had taken longer than he anticipated. He hated that he didn’t have all the facts going into this lunch meeting with Eliza but vowed to himself to keep his temper in check and to let her do most of the talking. He had a lot to learn and he didn’t need to give her more information about himself or those he loved than she already had.

She was easy to spot as the host led him to the balcony. Eliza wore a simple yellow sundress with a white kerchief, her hair loosely pulled back into a French braid—a style he remembered she’d frequent when they were young. There was no denying she looked beautiful and Sidney tried to focus on the fact that she was not nearly as innocent as she appeared.

They sat for a moment just looking at each other. “I was so happy to get your call. I have to admit, I’m not quite sure where to start,” she said softly, taking a sip of her iced tea. “What must you think of me?” she questioned as she met his gaze, her eyes on the verge of tears.

Sidney offered her his handkerchief and she dabbed her eyes. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to start this way,” she said, offering an apologetic smile.

The waiter interrupted and they quickly ordered lunch. As the waiter departed, Sidney thought it best to get to the point. “Why did you buy the shares, Eliza? What is it you want?”

Eliza fumbled for the right words. “I did it for you, Sidney. I always hoped we might find each other again.” She paused, expecting Sidney to speak, but he remained silent. “I’ve spent many years under the pernicious influences of my father, then my husband and others, and I always knew that if I could just get back to you, I could be my truest self, my best self,” she said, again her eyes welling with tears. “I’ve always looked out for you from afar and when I saw what your brother was doing, I realized I had the resources to step in and help—to protect you and your family.”

Sidney swallowed hard—for some reason this was becoming difficult for him to hear and not believe it to be the truth. His mind flashed to the malicious influence that even Charlotte lived under for a while. Sidney waited a moment before asking, “So you’ll sell me the shares then?” he questioned flatly.

“I could, but I don’t think I’ve been terribly clear,” she said, looking down at her hands. “I want to care for you—I want to stand with you again and this could all be ours together.”

Sidney gave her a weak smile as the waiter set down their lunch. “So I’m to forget everything that happened years ago?”

“No, absolutely not. I carry that shame with me every day—I just want another chance. Don’t we all deserve a second chance?” she asked, her eyes again wet with tears.

Sidney was beginning to wonder if she could be sincere and worked hard to shake it off. Before he could ask again about the shares, Eliza launched into a happy litany of stories from their time together—some of them funny, many of them passionate and all of them distracting Sidney from his purpose. For more than a half-hour she retold their life together and at times reached gently for his hand, which he politely retracted except for once, regretting it immediately. A text from his counsel interrupted the conversation and he realized he needed to end this and get some distance from her—he quickly signaled the waiter to settle the bill.

He followed Eliza to the entrance where she stopped and turned to him, she looked so much like he remembered when he loved her. “Sidney, I know you must be confused. Let me prove myself to you. Come upstairs with me now and we can make love—remember like we used to on the beach when we’d sneak out after everyone went to bed,” she stepped close, putting her hands on his chest.

Sidney looked at her with concerned eyes and brushed a loose lock behind her ear then kissed her lightly on her forehead—she smiled broadly. “As tempting as that is, we’ll have to delay to another time,” he said, pulling away and walking quickly out into the lobby. 

Eliza continued her smile as she watched him leave. If Sidney had only looked into the restaurant, he would have seen what really caused Eliza to smile—Charlotte staring at them from across the room, her heart shattering and falling to the floor in little jagged pieces.

*****

Eliza beamed when she heard the knock. “I knew he’d change his mind,” she said as she checked herself in the mirror then opened the door quickly with a demure yet welcoming smile.

“Oh put that away Eliza,” Edward said as he walked past her into the suite and threw himself heavily on the sofa. “Your puppy isn’t coming—and what the hell are you wearing?”

She quickly closed the door and looked at him through pierced eyes. “What are you doing here my dear—you were supposed to wait for my call,” Eliza nearly hissed.

“Don’t worry, I kept out of sight and I’ve done all your chores,” he looked at her and gave her an exhausted sigh. “The yacht is hidden in Calais and I’ve sent the boys to find another place to play for a while.”

“It’s not terribly safe for you here right now Eddie,” Eliza said as she took a seat on the sofa opposite him.

“I had no real choice—Clara wanted to come back for the regatta,” he said rolling his eyes as he went to the bar to make a drink.

“You didn’t do anything to her—she has no idea, right?” Eliza asked.

“Of course not—you know I find willing partners a bit boring, except for you of course my darling,” he said walking to her, stopping briefly to stroke her cheek before returning to the couch. “Clara thinks me an attentive, caring man,” he could barely say it without a laugh. “She’ll be an ally if we need her.”

Edward took a long sip of his drink then looked directly at Eliza, “now, I’d like you to fill me in on your bigger game here in Sanditon. Don’t think I’m completely oblivious to your scheming—and I saw you with that simpering idiot earlier, what are you playing at?”

Eliza gave Edward a smirk as she arose from the couch and took the drink from his hand, finishing it as she walked to her bedroom. She glanced at Edward, inviting him to follow. “I’ll tell you—I need you to do something for me first.”


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi—thank you so much for sticking with the story and your comments. I had two questions asked that I’d thought I’d try to answer - 1. Charlotte’s grandfather did pass away, sorry! 2. Her former scientist buddies from her time in the south pacific are not likely to show up 😊. More answers will unfold in the story, promise!  
> Have a lovely day!

“You are very pale,” Esther said, looking up at Charlotte from the list of attendees. “Are you okay?”

With her back to Sidney and Eliza, Esther did not have the view she did and Charlotte needed a quick escape. “I’m sorry Esther,” she managed to utter quietly. “Lunch didn’t agree with me and I need to go,” she said, adding apologies and sincere-as-possible thanks as she tried to calmly walk out the restaurant back door without crying. 

“I’ll give Clara a call and finish up the planning with her,” Esther said, worried for Charlotte’s quick turn in health.

Hurrying her pace, Charlotte made it past the kitchen, through the staff parking lot, and hid behind a truck at the loading dock. She couldn’t stop the tears and let every one of them fall until there were no more. The loss she felt made her stomach hurt—she couldn’t comprehend how he could somehow be taken in by Eliza especially after all he knew about her and all she’d done to her and his family. It was especially painful to Charlotte considering the serenity she and Sidney had found together the night before. “What could she have possibly said to him?” she asked aloud, getting angrier with each potential scenario and feeling completely betrayed.

After a few minutes, she tried to focus herself but was rocked again with the realization that she really had nowhere to go to escape him. Her apartment overlooked his boat, all of the people she might turn to for friendship—Esther, Diana, even Stringer—they were all somehow linked to him. Even the damn Ocean Funds boat was just a few slips from the Fife. And now she was stuck in a town where people probably thought her something of a slut thanks to Eliza. Her only real option seemed to be Clara, but Charlotte felt that she simply could not trust her.

Charlotte leaned exhausted against the truck. She knew she was not a weak woman but was feeling frail and just wanted out. Myriad thoughts filled her head—she considered fighting for him, played out in her head what a confrontation with Eliza might look like, thought of hiring a car and leaving that day and never coming back, she even thought about going home to her family. No option seemed right and she just needed to get away and think.

*****

It took everything for Sidney not to ask Eliza, “what beach?” He knew every minute of their time together and that they had never sneaked out as she said, they had never made love on a beach—she had confused him with one of her other men. When he looked at her, brushed her hair aside and kissed her forehead, that was his last goodbye to all she ever meant to him. And while it was torture for him not to unleash his rage, Sidney didn’t want to let her know that he was on to her games until he had more facts and thought it was perhaps better to let her think she was winning.

Luckily, that’s what his legal advisors were working on. After just a few phone calls to some of the former shareholders, the team learned that those investors had been somewhat misled and if the lawyers could get something in writing and arrange for formal complaints to be filed, it may lead to an investigation and at least a temporary halt to any other sales.

While there were a lot of 'ifs,' Sidney was at least feeling there was some hope to be had—he wouldn’t tell the family yet but was looking forward to sharing some of the progress with Charlotte and texted her. _Contact me if you can—some news. If not, see you at 4._

Sidney stopped short of typing “love you” to the end but he had yet to say it aloud to her and a text was not the way he wanted to go about it. Although it seemed too fast to say it and would perhaps be much too fast for her—experiencing what he had with Charlotte last night and then seeing Eliza today made him even more certain. He had just put his phone in his pocket when the text alert sounded. He retrieved it hoping it was Charlotte, but instead it was Babington beckoning him to his yacht.

A few minutes later, Sidney was uncharacteristically greeted fairly seriously by Babington. “This is some dastardly business from Eliza isn’t it,” Babington said, giving Sidney a brotherly pat on the back. “Know that Esther and I are going to do all we can to help.”

Sidney looked at him a bit confused—wondering how and who told him about the state of the resort. While he often considered Babington to be a third brother, he had no desire to expose Tom’s foolish behavior at this point—especially if it could still be righted.

“I swear after all that woman put you through years ago, and now this with Charlotte...I think someone should just put her in her place once and for all,” Babington said, leaning against the railing.

“What about Charlotte?” Sidney questioned, wondering again how Babington knew all that had happened to her and the potential role of Eliza in the plot—he needed to confirm exactly what information Babington had. The mention of her name reminded him to keep an eye on the time—he would not be late to meet her.

“Esther told me yesterday—I can’t believe Eliza is trying to slander her like that. Charlotte is top in her field and no one in their right mind would believe those lies if they spent even a minute with her. But you know how people can be,” Babington said. “We’ll set up the party on the sun deck tomorrow afternoon and I assume you’ll serve as her escort tomorrow, right? It will be good to have all the Parkers supporting her as well.”

“Stop Babs, I don’t think I know what you’re talking about,” Sidney said, looking a bit frustrated.

‘I’m sorry, I thought you knew,” Babington said, dropping his eyes down. “According to Esther, Eliza’s been telling people that Charlotte is, well, she’s providing special favors to large donors. Esther told her of it when you were both here the other day.”

It took a moment for the real meaning of “special favors” to register with Sidney and he felt sick that he not only just spent the last hour with Eliza and didn’t tear her apart for it, but that Charlotte hadn’t shared this with him. She had to have been hurt by it and said nothing—dealing with it by herself for days.

“Esther and I are hosting a pre-regatta party in support of her and Ocean Funds—I believe Esther and Charlotte are working on it now—we’ll put a stop to these rumors, I promise,” said Babington, giving Sidney a confident nod.

*****

Sidney sat on the deck of the Fife—he had just arrived five minutes earlier from Babington’s and expected Charlotte to show within the next ten minutes. He knew that she was most likely trying to spare him any additional worry, but he had grown a bit angry that she hadn’t told him about Eliza’s lies and was hurt that she wouldn’t let him be there for her.

A call from his lawyer interrupted his thoughts. They had found at least one investor willing to file a complaint against Eliza but wanted the assurance that Sidney was in fact willing to buy the shares at the same price if the regulators nullified the sale. After some lengthy dialogue, Sidney agreed. They were still working on those investors who were to close their sales the day after the regatta, so there was some hope with that too. Sidney sighed heavily – even with hope, there were so many ‘maybes.’

It was nearly 4:30 and Charlotte hadn’t shown. He had kept watch on the dock throughout the entire call and there was no sign of her. Sidney sent her a new text—no reply. She had never replied to his first one sent before Babington’s and he was beginning to worry. He quickly made his way to her apartment, checking the Ocean Funds boat along the way. Standing outside her door, there was no response to his knocks. He called her and heard the ringing of her phone from inside the apartment—no answer.

He paced back and forth—“maybe she’s in the shower,” he thought, and knocked or more correctly pounded. Still no answer. He needed to be rational and decided she just forgot her phone and lost track of time—he was trying hard not to think what could happen if Edward had somehow returned. He knew she was supposed to spend the afternoon with Esther and he called Babington, learning from Esther that she had left hours ago feeling unwell. He knocked on the door again, and again he received no response.

Frustrated, he called Stringer.

*****

Stringer had taken the day off to be with Diana. When she appeared at his house late last night angry and in tears, he had already been asleep an hour and had opened the door shirtless and groggy. She had taken a step back from the door, quickly realizing the lateness of the hour. She made her quick apologies and turned to leave but Stringer took her hand and led her inside—she had yet to leave.

Diana and Stringer were sitting on opposite ends of the couch, their bare legs intertwined as they each playfully tried to catch popcorn from the other. They both knew it was silly and adolescent, and neither cared. Stringer had ignored most of the calls he received that day unless they were tied to ongoing investigations and was both concerned and curious to get Sidney’s call.

“Missing an hour,” Stringer repeated Sidney, giving a troubled look to Diana. “That’s not a terribly long time, but I agree—let’s go in and see. I’ll send the patrol over to meet you—go ahead and tell the apartment manager we need the key. The security code is 9636.” Stringer looked at Diana, not ready yet to leave, “call me when you get in and tell me what you see.”

*****

It wasn’t long before Sidney was in the apartment and quickly realized she was not there. Her research was scattered about like always and he could sense something was missing but didn’t know what. Scanning her bedroom, he saw her phone on her bed next to a half-packed suitcase. He turned on the screen and there were his unanswered messages and calls.

“Where the hell is she?” he asked aloud, running his hand through his hair. The officers looked at him, then each other, wondering if they were expected to answer him. Sidney glanced around the apartment again and realized where she’d gone.


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, putting up with me (!!!), and your lovely thoughts and comments.

Her tracker hit 35 kilometers and Charlotte had no plans of stopping. After running through options in her head of what to do, and half packing a bag to leave Sanditon, she decided to pause and get some air.

It had been several days since she’d been on her bike and the wind on her face and the freedom she felt as she raced over the cliff roads was helping calm her mind—at least a little. She hadn’t originally planned to go so far, but she kept feeling as if she couldn’t put enough distance between her and Sanditon, Sidney or Eliza. Every time she blinked, she could see Eliza’s hands on Sidney’s chest, his fingers gently touching her hair and when she thought of Sidney’s lips on Eliza, Charlotte peddled faster. It wasn’t until she hit kilometer 45 that she realized the sun was not only setting, but dark storm clouds were moving in.

She came to a quick stop on the deserted road trying to determine if she should continue forward or go back. “There’s no choice,” she said aloud, laughing a bit at her folly. In her desire for a quick escape, she had not only purposely left her phone, but mistakenly left her wallet. All she had was a less than half-empty bottle of water and her keys. She flipped the bike around, tightened her helmet and started to make her way down the steep cliff road as the rain started.

After only four kilometers, Charlotte fell victim to the slick road as puddling water obfuscated a large hole that caught her tire, sending her hard to the ground. Soaked, she laid still for a moment to assess the damage. While nothing was broken, she could feel a sharp pain down her right leg. Her bike shorts were torn and she had abrasions down her thigh. Her right arm suffered similar injuries as did her shirt and she was thankful to just have those wounds. She stood up slowly, feeling shaken from the fall, and evaluated her bike. With a bent wheel, her bike was useless. She removed her helmet and hung it from the handlebars. It would be a long walk back and Charlotte began it, pushing her bike alongside.

*****

“Sounds lovely, who do they expect to attend?” Edward said, making a mental list in his head. “I’ll let Eliza know…yes, I know you did your best, darling.”

Edward rolled his eyes as he clicked off the phone and tossed it onto the bed. “Well someone is on the naughty list,” he said teasingly to Eliza, who just finished zipping up her dress. 

She walked to him and whispered in his ear, “considering what I just did to you, I would hope so,” then viciously bit his lobe.

He grabbed her arm and roughly pulled her back onto the bed, rolling on top of her.

“You’re wrinkling me,” she struggled but he grabbed her arms.

“No, my dear. You didn’t make the VIP list—the Babingtons are having a pre-regatta party for Ocean Funds and according to our little Clara, it’s all top-shelf attendees, including your pet—but she wasn’t able to add you,” he lowered his face to hers. “What did you do to make enemies of the Babingtons?”

Eliza pushed him off of her, stood up and smoothed her dress. “Well they’ve clearly chosen sides,” she laughed. “I’ll just get my Sidney to take me tomorrow,” she smiled at Edward and mockingly batted her eyes as she retrieved her phone from the dresser. She scrolled through her messages and a text from her firm made her wince. _Someone is looking into that deal you had the spring intern work on a few months ago. Call me._

“What’s wrong?” Edward asked, not terribly interested.

“Nothing,” she waved him off and walked into the other room knowing that if anyone was looking into the deal that trapped Tom it must be Sidney. “Good thing my little insurance policy arrives tomorrow afternoon,” she smiled to herself. “That will get him in line.”

*****

Sidney hopped in his Jeep and watched the storm clouds approach. While he had the top up, he’d still be soaked once the rain started and Arthur’s teasing jabs for not having doors were repeating in his head. Those thoughts were quickly replaced by concerns about Charlotte. He told her about the cliff roads when he first saw her bike in her apartment but had no idea why she’d go now and he wondered why she didn’t call him to at least let him know.

He’d been driving for nearly forty-five minutes and there was no sign of her. Sidney was a bit thankful that there was at least a break in the rain so he could drive faster, but the twisted roads made it impossible to go as fast as he wanted in order to find her. He had reached nearly 35 kilometers outside Sanditon and realized she must have gone another route—“there is no way she’d be out this far,” he thought to himself. He was about to turn around when he caught her in his headlights walking toward him on the side of the road. Sidney quickly slammed on his breaks, pulled over and lept out, relieved to find her safe.

When Charlotte first saw the headlights coming toward her, she was ecstatic—she just wanted someone to let her call for a ride. But when she realized it was Sidney, her stomach dropped. She wanted so much to shake him of Eliza's influence, but she was just so hurt, and right now all she knew was that she didn’t want him anywhere near her. She didn’t stop walking when he called out to her, hoping he’d just go away.

Sidney walked quickly to catch up to her, Charlotte was soaked to the bone and he quickened his pace when he noticed her torn clothes and the blood on her arm and thigh. “Charlotte,” he said tenderly, placing his hand on her shoulder.

Charlotte impulsively let her bike fall to the ground and spun around quickly. “Don’t touch me! Don’t ever touch me again!” she roared at him—her voice strong and angry.

He stopped cold, shocked by her words and stunned by the look of what appeared to be hatred in her eyes.

She could feel the tears starting and she turned, picked up her bike and began walking again. She had put some distance between them before Sidney found his voice.

“Charlotte!” Sidney yelled out; his voice almost cracking. “What’s wrong? Talk to me.”

“Why? You’ve clearly made your choice,” she looked back at him as she kept walking.

“I don’t understand…Charlotte,” he said, running up behind her, retracting his hand before attempting to touch her shoulder again.

She stopped, took a deep breath and turned to face him with the tears falling fast. “I saw you—I saw you in the restaurant with Eliza, holding her, touching her hair,” she said as calmly as possible, her voice wavering as she said, “kissing her forehead.” She looked at him, her wet eyes pleading for an explanation. “How could you...With her? After everything she's done to us both? Did I mean anything to you?”

Her body was shaking and she looked more hurt than he’d ever seen another person appear in his life—and he hated himself knowing that he unintentionally caused it. Sidney put his hand to his forehead. “I promise you, it’s not what you think.” He looked behind her and could see another wave of storms approaching, the lightening threatening. “Listen,” he started, holding his hands out trying to explain, “I was trying to convince her that she was going to get what she wanted—I just…”

“How far would you go to save your family resort? To her bed?” Charlotte spat, her eyes accusing.

Sidney looked at her, insulted and wounded. “I don’t know, maybe as far as you’d go to get a big donation,” he defensively shot back not thinking, although he did want her to see how ludicrous her question was. He quickly realized that was not the right approach as Charlotte’s mouth widened in disbelief, she turned and again started walking away from him.

“Stop – I’m sorry. I was trying to get you to see that I’d never do that, just like you never would,” he said. “Do you really think that badly of me?” he questioned with agony in his voice.

She stopped to look at him, feeling she crossed a line, but refusing to admit any wrong.

He looked at her then at the sky—the storm was closing in. He took a few steps closer to her. “Charlotte, whatever you think of me, the fact is we need to get out of here now—we’re more than thirty kilometers from town.”

She glanced up, then shifted her gaze to him, stepping back. “I’ll be fine, just go.”

He steadied his resolve, his eyes firmly on her. “I love you Charlotte and I’m not leaving you here,” he said, his voice calm and sure.

Her eyes were wide at his declaration, but he could see she still had no intention of going with him. Within seconds he had his left hand on her bike and with one quick movement, he swept her over his right shoulder.

She was stunned silent as he plopped her down in the passenger seat and firmly fastened her in, then threw her bike in the back.

He looked at the approaching storm and gained his bearings. Turning on the engine, he threw the Jeep into drive and took off, heading away from Sanditon.


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Thanks for all of your patience with my (um sometimes overly descriptive) writing :). Lots of Sidlotte today. Hope you are having a lovely evening.

The impending storm had brought with it a cold front and Charlotte shivered as the wind whipped against her wet clothes. Her body was starting to ache from her fall, but that physical pain was not as severe as the regret she felt for her part in how they both were feeling. She replayed their words over and over in her head. Charlotte knew she was a rational creature and hated that she became so emotional and illogical where Sidney was involved. She had never behaved this way in her life and she knew that logic and reason were what they needed most right now to outwit Eliza. She closed her eyes and just like she did when she stopped herself from confronting Eliza after she learned about the slander from Esther, she worked to strip out all of the emotion of the day.

“What do I want tomorrow after all of this anger?” she asked herself silently. All ideas of cutting retorts and cold responses melted away and all she wanted was Sidney—she wanted him safe and happy and free from Eliza’s pernicious activities. She opened her eyes and looked at him—his body tight, jaw clenched, eyes focused on the road. If she could, she would rewrite every second of the last several hours—all of it but the few seconds when he said he loved her.

They had driven ten minutes in silence and Sidney was going faster than might be considered safe for the wet hairpin turns on the cliff road. He was true in his declaration of love, but the sting of her words still burned and while he deeply regretted all he had done to hurt her, the idea that she would think so badly of him and that she’d just pack a bag and leave him was devastating. The only thing that gave him hope was the possibility that her passionate response may just mean that her feelings were as deep for him as his were for her. Right now though, all he was letting himself focus on was the road ahead and getting to the old gamekeeper’s cottage that was on a remote parcel of land he purchased a few years ago. It was fairly run down, but he had used it for shelter when bad weather interrupted a long hike or bike ride and it was their best option now.

It had been almost a year since he’d been to the cottage and he nearly missed the turnoff to the dirt access road in the dark. He jerked the wheel of the Jeep, which prompted an audible gasp from Charlotte—the first sound from either of them since beginning their drive. She looked at him, just missing his eyes as he turned them back to the road after ensuring she was okay. 

He came to a stop in front of a simple bar gate blocking the drive and turned off the car—fiddling with his keys as he jumped out. Charlotte watched him in the headlights as he tried to quickly open the lock. She looked in the side-view mirror as the storm approached, the wind getting stronger and the rain beginning to fall. He ran back to the Jeep, pulled it forward and returned to relock the gate. 

The car shook not just from the potted drive, but from the force of the wind that seemed to bend every tree toward their path. Within a few minutes, they approached the small stone cottage. Sidney parked the car under the lean-to and pressed the release on his and then Charlotte’s seatbelt. “Quickly,” he said as he ran to the door of the cottage. The rain started to come hard and it felt more like pebbles, sharp and painful on Charlotte’s skin. Sidney opened the door and swiftly ushered her inside. It was dark and smelled musty. “Don’t move,” Sidney said as he went back outside. The room was black and was only illuminated by the increasingly frequent flashes of lightning followed by the crashes of thunder that seemed to surround them.

It had been several minutes and the rain was now coming down in hard sheets and Sidney had yet to return. The storm seemed to be settling in and the sound from the rain on the roof was deafening. “Sidney,” she yelled. She waited for a response but none came. Charlotte tried to feel her way to the door to find him and tripped and fell to the floor. It was not lost on her that this was the second time she ended up that way today—the third if you counted how she felt after seeing Sidney with Eliza.

Charlotte heard a buzzing and shortly after a dim electric wall sconce did its best to illuminate the tiny space. She surveyed the room as she started to pull herself up. On one side was a small stone fireplace with a healthy stash of firewood. Near it was what looked to be a couple of chairs under sheets and potentially a small table. The opposite wall was lined with shelves half stocked with camping and other supplies, some books and blankets. She had tumbled over the edge of a rolled carpet and had properly skinned her knee on the plank wood floor. “Add it to the list,” she thought to herself, wondering what she’d look like at tomorrow’s regatta.

It had taken longer to get the generator started than he’d hoped and Sidney was soaked. He approached the cottage door, his linen shirt and pants clung to his body and while he wanted to get out of the cold rain, he paused with his hand on the latch. His instinct was to walk in, pull her to him and hold her tightly in his arms but he would not do that. Even with their harsh words, he had decided to make his feelings clear, now he needed to find out hers—for better or worse. He did smirk to himself at what it felt like to give in to his impulse and just take her upon his shoulder—“if only everything could be that easy,” he thought to himself. Sidney decided it best to concentrate on what needed to happen now— get a fire started, get warm, get her wounds cleaned. Upon opening door, he found Charlotte picking herself up from the floor—she was looking down, examining her newest wound.

She hadn’t heard the latch and it was the cold breeze that signaled Sidney’s arrival. Raising her eyes to him, Charlotte was caught breathless by the sight of his wet pants defining every curve and his white shirt hugging every muscle. She met his gaze and could only manage to utter, “tripped.”

Sidney walked to a bin near the camping supplies and fished out a few towels. He handed her two and kept one for himself as he went to the fireplace. Keeping his back to her, he started, “there is a small bathroom—it has a tankless heater so you should have some warm water. It’s well water, so don’t drink it—take the bottled water,” he said clinically. “But it should be good enough to get the gravel and blood off. I’ll find the first aid kit after I get a fire going.”

Standing in the bathroom doorway, she watched as he grabbed a few logs and kindling from the side of the fireplace and went to work. It didn’t take long for the dry kindling to catch and Sidney removed his wet shirt and hung it from a hook on the mantel. Charlotte quickly closed the bathroom door before he could discover her spying.

The bathroom was more than tiny and Charlotte found herself repeatedly bumping her sore body into the wall or sink as she struggled to remove her wet spandex cycling clothes. After a few minutes, she was free of the torn garments and she stood in the small shower stall watching as little bits of gravel mixed with blood found their way down the slow drain. She had just wrapped the towel around herself when Sidney knocked.

Considering the day, he was happy to find that at least he was right about one thing—he thought he had left a few bottles of rather nice red wine there last year and some sealed trail mix and was more than pleased to find them. He also found some things he had stored in case of an emergency—a phone charger, a couple of sweaters, some thermals and a few blankets. Before the Fife, this was his only Sanditon residence. He waited a couple of minutes until after the shower stopped—a rather hard thing to hear considering the persistent rain—and softly knocked on the door. “I have some dry things and a first aid kit. It’s not much, but it’s all I have. I’ll leave them outside the door.”

He placed the first aid kit on top of the folded clothes on the floor then quickly replied to texts from Stringer and Babington letting them know everything was fine—although he had no clue if it was. Leaving his phone to charge near the shelves, he removed the sheeting from the chairs in front of the fireplace. He just wanted to sit, enjoy the wine and then wait for her to decide what came next. The only other time he said those three words to a woman was with Eliza and he was more than certain now that he clearly didn’t know what he was saying then. He had just taken his first sip of wine when Charlotte opened the door and retrieved his offering, closing the door behind her.

Adding another log to the fire—Sidney thought it was lucky the roof was holding with this rain. He sat in the rather uncomfortable chair, just happy that she was safe. The furniture had been included in the sale. He had bought the land and the cottage at what he considered a steal. The owners had purchased the large, 18th century estate for the great house and in order to fund its restoration, they sold what Sidney considered the most beautiful part of the estate. Sidney loved this land and ultimately wanted to establish a preserve and open it to the public. For now, he was happy to be selfish and keep it for himself and perhaps, one day, a family.

There was absolutely no fathomable way that Charlotte could tend to her wounds or even dress in such a small space. She was only able to put a bandage on her skinned knee, but her arm and leg needed attention as the bleeding hadn’t stopped as she had originally thought. Dressed in only a towel, she slowly opened the door. Sidney was sitting in a chair in front of the fireplace in a dark green long-sleeve shirt and a pair of black thermals. He looked contented being alone and Charlotte wasn’t sure if he wanted the interruption, but she needed him. She mustered all of her courage, “Sidney, can you please help me?”

He stood quickly—the room so small it took only a few steps to be in front of her. He took the first aid kit from her hands and pointed her to the other chair in front of the fireplace. Even in the dim light he could see the bruises that were appearing on her right shoulder and upper back and combined with the injuries on her arm and thigh, he knew she had to be in pain. As she sat, he found another cup and poured her some wine that would hopefully dampen the sting of her injuries.

Silently he started to dress her wounds. After finishing her arm, he lifted her towel to bandage her thigh. “What happened?” he asked, not looking up as he applied antiseptic to the abrasions. “A bit of a tumble on my bike—nothing serious,” she said, feeling sore but enjoying the warmth of the fire which she considered cool in comparison to the heat of his touch. 

“If you don’t think this is serious, I really don’t want to see what you think is,” he said as he used butterfly bandages to seal the gash. His hand on her leg, he looked up at her. “All set,” he said as he awkwardly removed his hand and started to clean up the packaging.

“Thank you,” she said, trying to meet his eyes but he would not. She watched him as he stored the first aid kit. “You asked me a question,” she said, again trying to meet his eyes, but he had walked to the window and was looking out at the rain. “And I never answered it.” She continued. “I never replied when you asked if I thought badly of you.” Sidney turned to her, his dark eyes meeting her gaze. “I don’t think badly of you at all.” She bit her lip, “the fact is, I love you.”

He shifted his gaze briefly to the floor and met hers again with a broad smile. She stood quickly as he closed the space between them, lacing his left arm around her waist as he caressed her cheek with his right hand. He ran his thumb gently over her lips—“please say it again,” he whispered.

Charlotte’s hands had made their way to his back, resting on his shoulder blades. She pulled him to her and looked at him, her eyes locked with his, “I. Love. You.” She smiled as she stood on her toes and kissed him tenderly, taking his bottom lip in her mouth as she lowered her heels, bringing his lips with her. Charlotte released her hold on his throbbing lip, and Sidney inhaled deeply, smiled then exhaled “I love you, Charlotte,” as he returned his lips to hers.

His hands now on her lower back, he pressed her to him as her hands found the hem of his shirt. She broke with him to quickly remove it over his head and her towel dropped to the floor. Sidney grinned as he trailed his hand to her bottom, gripping and pulling her to him, his lips at her ear. “I love you Charlotte,” he said again, leaving wet kisses down her neck as his other hand cupped her heavy breast, his thumb stroking her already erect nipple.

Charlotte ran her fingers lightly across his back, memorizing each muscle, then hooked her thumbs in his waistband. She began to pull down his thermals but winced in pain as Sidney had mistakenly caressed her wounded thigh. He stopped and looked at her, breathless, his eyes sorry. She smiled and kissed the soft skin at his throat and trailed down the center of his chest, his stomach, licked his navel and kissed his rigid erection through the constraining fabric.

Sidney threw his head back, his hands looking for her as she removed his thermals and gently kissed his hard tip. As Sidney gripped her shoulders, she again winced in pain and fell back on her bum. He quickly knelt to help her up. “I think you need to keep your hands to yourself, Mr. Parker,” she said as she pushed him into the chair.

Charlotte began to lower herself to her knees when Sidney took her about the waist and led her to straddle him. She slowly lowered herself, keeping his loving gaze as she took him in. Sidney hesitated before resting his hands on her hips—his last two touches had caused pain—then leaned his lips to claim hers as she started to set the rhythm. He moved one hand to clutch her bottom as the other worked to ensure her pleasure. He broke their passionate kiss to inhale deeply and Charlotte’s dark eyes locked with his. “I love you, Sidney Parker,” she whispered as she braced her hands on the arms of the chair, increasing their rhythm.

Charlotte achieved fulfillment first with Sidney following closely behind. She leaned heavily into him and he nuzzled his mouth to her neck. Sidney was softly kissing her as the leg of the chair collapsed, tossing them both to the floor. Charlotte and Sidney laid on their backs for a moment stunned. Sidney quickly rolled on his side to face her to ensure she was alright. “How many times am I going to fall on my ass today,” she laughed but was truly sore.

“I don’t know,” Sidney grinned. “How much of my furniture are you going to break?”

*****

It was early morning and Sidney and Charlotte had already been awake an hour. They wanted to wait until daylight before heading back to Sanditon. Sidney was checking to ensure the fire was completely out while Charlotte packed up the sleeping bags that had served as their makeshift bed.

“So when are you going to text her back?” Charlotte asked as she placed the last sleeping bag on the shelf.

“We can do it now if you want,” he said, standing up from the fireplace and placing a sheet over the one good chair.

“I think we wait until closer to the party—I don’t think it’s good to give Eliza too much time to come up with a plan B,” Charlotte said walking to him and hugging him around his waist.

Upon waking, Sidney and Charlotte had the difficult discussion about Eliza. They had reviewed the texts that she had sent the night before about Sidney taking her to Babington’s party as well as the texts from Sidney’s lawyer saying there was no stopping the sale tomorrow of the shares that would give her majority control of the resort. While there was still some hope with the investigations, by tomorrow Eliza would have the power to do whatever she wanted with the long-standing Parker family holding, and while Sidney would do what he could legally to stop it, he would not play her game, no matter what.

He softly placed his hands around Charlotte's waist and held her close, finding solace in the embrace. “I can’t stop feeling responsible for all of this,” he said, resting his cheek on her mussed locks.

Charlotte held him tighter and pressed her cheek to his chest, listening to his heart. “We’ve been through this—and I will keep telling you until I can no longer speak—you are not responsible for anything she does or for anyone she hurts.” She looked up at him. “Everything is a game to her and she can’t bear to lose—even when the game is long over. You’re probably one of the only people in the world that stopped playing her game when you walked out. All of this now is about her winning control over you—we’re not going to let her do that Sidney, right?”

Sidney nodded and kissed her lips softly. “Right. The only person with control over me is you, my darling Charlotte,” he said, confirming, “and neither of us will try to take her alone, right?”

Charlotte returned his kiss. “Right.”


	18. Chapter 18

Charlotte surveyed her closet, trying to find something appropriate to wear that would also cover her bandages. She had little to choose from. Sidney had given her a copy of his car key if she needed to try to quickly run to buy something new, but she really had no desire to expand her wardrobe with fundraising-friendly attire. He also gave her a key to the cabin of his boat in case, well, just in case.

She was expecting Sidney within the hour to head over to the Babington’s early for the party. Charlotte felt somewhat guilty that she had disappeared on Esther yesterday, but it seemed to all be under control. She settled on a simple knee-length white dress with small blue flowers and elbow-length sleeves that would do well to hide everything. After tying up her hair, she realized that the neckline, while high, revealed the bruises on her back, so she opted to let her hair flow freely.

She had just finished putting on her shoes when Sidney knocked. She opened the door and was greeted with him thrusting his phone at her and making a frustrated request. “Can you please help me with this?” he asked, running his hand through his hair.

She stood silently with the phone. He turned, looked at her, smiled, and quickly took the phone back and walked out the door, closing it behind him. A few moments later he knocked again. Charlotte opened it confused. Sidney looked at her and smiled then embraced her gently, careful not to touch any sore areas and kissed her softly. “You look beautiful,” he said, hoping he had made a better impression.

She rolled her eyes and smiled, “give me the phone.”

Eliza had texted – _When can I expect you?_ They hadn’t yet responded to her earlier texts and Sidney had drafted a long response that included his anger with all of her actions and some not-so-veiled threats to leave those he loved alone. Although she could understand it, she did find that it was rage she hadn’t seen in him before.

“You don’t want to send this,” she said. “Although I do like the part about you telling her that you’re in love with me,” she smiled. She deleted his rant and typed a simple reply. _I believe we had a misunderstanding. If you are interested in talking about selling the shares, contact my attorney._ “To the point, unemotional, and it doesn’t give her any ammunition. Okay?” she asked, handing him the phone.

He nodded and pressed send. “I’m sorry, with any other person, any other deal, I’d never get emotional. I really don’t think very clearly with her,” he said as he took Charlotte’s hand and led her out the door.

“That's exactly what she wants and that’s why you have me,” Charlotte said, closing the door behind her.

*****

Eliza was more than frustrated with Sidney’s text. She knew their lunch went a little too well—but she had to admit, she didn’t expect that he wouldn’t show today being so close to the final sale. She had anticipated that he’d at least try to convince her to sell him the shares—try to negotiate with her. She knew the more time she spent with him, the easier it would be to influence him, she just needed the damn time. His walking away like this wasn’t in any of her scenarios and she wondered the effect little Charlotte Heywood was really having on him.

She was now regretting sending Edward away earlier that morning—telling him that he needed to make himself scarce. There were far too many people who might see Edward at the regatta and she didn’t need to deal with that. It was a waste of breath trying to encourage him to head back to France for a few weeks. He assured her that he knew enough of his old hometown and the right people to be able to hide in Sanditon—but he warned her to win her game soon because he didn’t want to hide for long and would rather they both head to Greece. Eliza started to consider that perhaps Edward could take care of Charlotte, but was interrupted by a text that made her smile. _I’m here!_

Eliza knew that while Sidney may not be as malleable as he once was, she just needed to pull the right levers to get what she wanted and now she believed she had the most effective one.

*****

Charlotte and Sidney walked hand in hand to Babington’s yacht. Even with the threat of Eliza’s ownership of the resort looming, Sidney felt surprisingly calm with Charlotte by his side. He was determined to do all he could to retain ownership, but if he couldn’t, if he did lose the resort for his family and his nieces and nephews, he committed to finding something better for them all. It was Charlotte who had mentioned a teaching often attributed to Socrates that morning and it resonated… _The secret of change is to focus all of your energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new_.

Babington was at the gangway talking with security when they arrived. “Ah, the guest of honor,” he greeted Charlotte with a friendly hug and shook Sidney’s hand. “With the storms last night I thought we’d need to spend the day inside, but it’s turned out to be a fine, sunny day to raise some money. Wouldn’t you agree Charlotte?”

She offered a generous smile, so thankful for the support but not looking forward to the next several hours of fundraising.

“Charlotte!” Esther waved her up to the sun deck. Charlotte left Sidney with Babington and was warmly greeted by her. “You look lovely—are you all better?” she asked with genuine concern taking Charlotte’s hands in hers.

Charlotte nodded, “I’m sorry for yesterday—just something I ate, I’m sure. Thank you so much for doing all of this. I don’t think I can express how much this means to me.”

“I was worried that maybe I was forcing this on you—but you are quite a fighter I take it, like me,” Esther smiled at her. “I think we should be good friends,” she said as she laced her arm in hers and led her to the railing. She paused before saying her next words, “I’ve had some time with Clara over the last day. She’s, um, interesting. Have you ever thought about working for another organization, or starting up your own?”

Charlotte looked at her and answered honestly, “I hadn’t given it much thought, but I will say, I’d rather be doing research than fundraising. And what about Clara?”

Esther smiled, “let’s talk after the regatta. And if I forgot to say it, thank you for bringing our Sidney around—it’s good to see him happy,” she said.

Charlotte looked at Sidney as he talked with Babington. He looked so at ease and she had to admit, handsome, in his dark blue linen shirt and white linen pants. She loved seeing him this way and just hoped they could spend the entire day like this—happy and together. 

“Can I steal her for one minute?” Clara interrupted. Clara wore a light pink cocktail dress that displayed more of her body than Charlotte was accustomed to seeing. Esther smiled weakly and Clara took Charlotte’s elbow and led her to a secluded spot near the stern. She began quickly, “I need your help—for some reason they refuse to invite Eliza Campion. Can you please talk to Esther?”

Charlotte considered her response for a minute and then began, her voice low and firm. “You don’t know who that woman is,” she began. “Eliza has done and said horrible things to and about me that hurt our organization—you cannot trust her.”

Clara looked at her and laughed off her comments. “Charlotte, you just don’t understand these people, they’re eccentric…”

“No,” Charlotte forcefully interrupted. “Eliza and her friends are dangerous. The Babingtons are having this party to counter rumors she’s spreading about me—she’s saying I’m sleeping with men if they give large donations.”

Clara again laughed it off. “That could just be her way of helping us drum up interest—no one believes that kind of thing. You need to get a better sense of humor,” she said.

“Clara wake up, this is not how normal people behave,” Charlotte said, trying hard not to raise her voice. She stepped closer. “That night you left me at the party, Eliza’s friend drugged me—it was just luck that he was interrupted before he…” she stopped, looking at Clara whose cheeks were bright red.

Clara shook her head, “why would you tell such lies Charlotte? What do you have against Eliza?”

Charlotte stepped back from her, dismayed and confused.

“Eliza just told me this morning she is thinking of making a two-year pledge of a million pounds. Why would she do that if she was saying those things or she wanted to hurt you?” Clara asked, shaking her head. “I know it’s hard when you’ve been isolated doing research—you simply don’t know how to interact with normal people, but really Charlotte, you need to get a hold of your imagination,” she said, walking away.

Charlotte stood dumfounded. She had never really trusted Clara, but to be so summarily dismissed was beyond comprehension and Charlotte started to question Clara’s moral compass. She needed to find Sidney.

She was on her way back to the sundeck and in a few steps, she ran into him and quickly hugged him close.

“I was looking for you,” he said, wrapping his arms around her. “Diana and Stringer are here—Tom, Mary and Arthur stayed at the resort to oversee some of the regatta events. We’ll see them later.”

She waited a minute to ask. “Will you stick by me today, please?”

“You never have to ask,” he smiled, pulling her closer and holding her for several minutes.

*****

The party was nearly two hours in and it was a vibrant success. An invite to Babington’s yacht was a rare one so there were absolutely no regrets. And to Charlotte’s surprise, the crowd seemed genuinely interested in Ocean Funds efforts.

Sidney kept his promise and didn’t leave Charlotte’s side. His hand was either locked with hers or he was a half step to the side of her as she talked with potential donors. He loved hearing her explain her work—she was so passionate, so engaging, it was hard not to want to commit to helping in her research. He also enjoyed watching Stringer being so attentive to his sister—there was a casualness and loving ease between them that reminded him of how his mother and father behaved together.

Sidney and Charlotte finally found a minute to be alone and he led her to the bow of the yacht. “You are amazing, do you know that?” he asked as he wrapped his hands around her waist. She smiled and leaned into him, kissing his cheek lightly. He was about to pull her lips to his for a more passionate expression of his love when he was interrupted. 

“Sidney!” he stopped, hearing the familiar voice.

“Georgiana?” he said, turning. He was sickened by what he saw—Georgiana arm in arm with Eliza.

“Surprise! We’re crashing. Let us up!!” she smiled.

Sidney's eyes turned dark with anger and he quickly started making his way to Georgiana. Charlotte grabbed his arm to stop him. He had told Charlotte about Georgiana—how they had a rough start but now she was like a daughter to him. Charlotte could see he was furious and knew he needed to calm down, fast. “Sidney, you can’t make a scene,” she said, taking both his hands in hers. “We need to find out the facts,” she said and could see Diana tell Stringer to wait as she approached Sidney and Charlotte. Charlotte signaled to her to follow them down the gangway.

“She is supposed to be on a study abroad program in Quebec—what the hell is she doing here with that woman,” he said as calmly as possible through gritted teeth.

Charlotte held Sidney’s hand tight as she turned to walk with him to meet Georgiana. “You can’t lose your temper—Eliza will use it against you, please trust me, it’s all part of her game,” she said. “Smile, then have Diana take Georgiana aboard.”

Georgiana pulled her arm from Eliza’s and eagerly hugged Sidney then Diana. “Are you surprised?” she asked, keeping hold of Diana’s hand.

Sidney did his best to smile. “Most certainly—what happened to Quebec? How did you get here?” he asked, his eyes darting to Eliza.

“Oh, it’s all thanks to Mrs. Campion, I interned at her company spring semester, and she invited me for the weekend. I head back Monday,” Georgiana said, excited to introduce her new friend. 

Eliza adjusted her red scarf that matched the color of her red and white silk tunic dress and walked up to Georgiana and again laced her arm in hers. “Oh, we’re all old friends here Georgiana, I just wish I knew the connection when we hired you,” she said, smiling at Sidney. “Georgiana, have you met Ms., I’m sorry remind me again—she’s with some environmental organization raising funds.”

Charlotte squeezed Sidney’s hand and he smiled, extending his hand to Georgiana to pull her forward away from Eliza. “Georgiana, I’d very much like you to meet Dr. Charlotte Heywood—I think you’ll find her work fascinating. She’s an accomplished marine biologist—and the woman I love,” he said, looking directly into Charlotte’s eyes.

Georgiana gave Charlotte and Sidney a questioning smile, a bit taken aback by that surprising news, but quickly gave Charlotte an awkward but loving handshake.

While Diana smiled broadly at Sidney’s declaration, Eliza seethed and interrupted the introduction. “I’m sure Sidney could have helped you with that deal this spring—oh that’s right we had the non-disclosure in place. If I’d only known you were family, we could have avoided all that legal nonsense,” she said, smiling at Sidney.

He looked at Georgiana for some explanation. Georgiana slightly grimaced at remembering the failure. Since she was to inherit a significant fortune when she turned twenty-five, Georgiana had taken several finance courses at Sidney’s insistence. She was smart, especially in her passion—political science—but her finance courses weren’t always her best grades and when she landed an internship at one of the most prestigious investment firms in London without applying, she was astonished. The only caveat—complete confidentiality.

She looked at Eliza to ensure she could talk about it and Eliza nodded. “Go ahead, it’s how we became friends dear—I’m sure Sidney would like to hear it,” she said.

“I worked on an investment that went sideways. I thought I had rated it correctly, but I had made several errors. Luckily Eliza had my back and made sure that everything was taken care of and no one was hurt,” Georgiana said while Eliza smiled at Sidney. Georgiana turned to Eliza and took her arm, “thank you so much Mrs. Campion for being such a good friend.”

“Of course my dear,” Eliza said and patted her arm. “There was only one investor,” she said, looking at Sidney. “No real harm,” she smiled.

Sidney felt his anger growing. He realized that any investigation into Tom’s failed deal would lead back to Georgiana and could result in consequences that might harm her future. More importantly, if Georgiana knew the real impact of her actions on the Parker family—her family—she’d be destroyed.

“Georgiana,” Sidney said calmly. “Why don’t you go aboard and say hello to Babington. He’d love to see you.”

Diana reached out for Georgiana’s hand and led her up the gangway to Babington and Stringer who were observing them just out of earshot. “Come on Charlotte,” Georgiana said, holding out her hand. “I can’t wait to learn more about the woman who has stolen Mr. Sidney Parker’s heart—I didn’t think I’d ever witness that in my lifetime.”

Charlotte turned to Sidney and said quietly, “I think I should stay.” 

Eliza looked at Charlotte through pierced eyes, “I think you should go.”

Charlotte waited for what seemed to be hours but was really just seconds for Sidney’s response. Sidney smiled at Charlotte. “Georgiana, we’ll see you in a minute.”

Diana quickly pulled Georgiana forward. “Come meet my boyfriend James,” she said, distracting Georgiana from the scene on the dock.

Sidney waited for Georgiana to get out of earshot. “Why are you doing this, Eliza?” he asked calmly, his hand locked with Charlotte’s.

Eliza couldn’t speak. She hadn’t planned for this scenario. She expected him to cower when seeing her with Georgiana. At the very least, she expected him to speak with her alone and didn’t want Charlotte involved in their business. She needed to regroup.

“No, not here,” she said. “You need to catch up with your darling Georgiana. We can talk later at the club party, without your ‘pet,’” she said, smirking at Charlotte. “I have an offer Sidney, and it’s for your ears alone. Tell Georgiana I’ll see her later,” she said turning to leave.

“No, Eliza!” Sidney said fiercely enough for Stringer and a few other guests on the yacht to hear.

Charlotte squeezed his hand, and he lowered his voice, just slightly. “You will never speak to Georgiana again—and you will leave the people I love alone.”

Eliza looked at him, happy to at least see him so unsettled. She turned and quickly began walking to the resort. While she was pleased to incite Sidney, she herself was angrier than she had ever remembered being in her life. She needed to find Edward, now.


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really appreciate everyone for reading and deeply cherish your comments and questions. I want to apologize to one reader who sent a lovely comment, which I did not publish at the reader’s request but then I couldn’t respond so doing it here. I’m sorry if any of the content is upsetting—that definitely was never my intent and I send you all my good thoughts and much happiness. I truly appreciate you reaching out!

As Babington and Diana entertained Georgiana, Stringer was studying the conversation on the dock. While he couldn’t hear what was being said, he definitely could see the tension and heard Sidney yell at Eliza. He knew that woman was toxic and had started to make some calls to some of the other resort owners after Diana shared with him everything Tom had confessed, but nothing was leading to any solid proof. Since he was a boy, Stringer thought the Parkers had it all—money, connections, success—he never suspected that they were all so human.

*****

Sidney’s breath was heavy as he tried to calm down. Even though Charlotte had repeatedly said he wasn’t responsible for Eliza’s actions, he couldn’t stop blaming himself for letting Eliza in his life. So while he was angry with her, he was actually more furious with himself. “I need to talk to Georgiana and explain things,” he said. “I don’t want her to see Eliza again—but she can’t know her part in Tom’s deal. I just wish she would have told me about the internship.”

“It didn’t sound like she thought she could,” Charlotte said, taking his hands in hers. “Is there anyone else we should be concerned about? Any more surprises that Eliza could have?”

Sidney shook his head, “I have no idea—I can’t think of anyone,” he said, bringing her hands to his lips, kissing each one. “I honestly don’t know why you’re putting up with me and all of this.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” she said, her eyes locked with his. “I love you Sidney and we’re in this together.”

****

Babington offered Sidney his private office to talk with Georgiana. Diana joined them to provide support and back up Sidney if needed.

While Georgiana did object to leaving, she was shocked at what she heard about Eliza. Even with the limited information Sidney shared, Georgiana came to what Diana thought was a spot-on assessment. “She’s a full-on Kathryn Merteuil with some big daddy issues isn’t she,” Georgiana said in amazement. Sidney didn’t get the reference, but Diana did and enjoyed the brief levity.

Georgiana accepted Diana’s offer for them both to head to London until her flight on Monday. “We can break my trust if we need to, right?—I’d like to help,” she said, as Sidney hugged her goodbye.

“You don’t know how much your offer means to me, but I don’t think it will come to that,” he said. “Text me when you land.”

Sidney stood at the railing watching Georgiana, Diana and Stringer make their way to the resort to retrieve Georgiana’s belongings.

“What’s going on, my friend,” Babington said as he approached Sidney.

“It’s a fairly long story,” Sidney said, looking tired.

“Good—I have no intention of going to the club, fill me in,” he patted Sidney on the back and led him back into his office.

*****

Charlotte watched as Sidney disappeared back into the office with Babington. She was exhausted and had no desire to go to the regatta party, but she knew he’d want to support Tom and even though she hated it, they needed to find out the details of Eliza’s offer. Charlotte so wanted to help him, but she had no idea how. And she was becoming more and more furious that a woman as cruel as Eliza was going to get everything she wanted.

It was half an hour before Sidney emerged from Babington’s office. “What was that about?” Charlotte asked.

“I let Babington in on what’s going on with the resort. I’ve never seen him so angry. I told him not to get involved. Nevertheless, he said he’d make some calls,” he said, looking toward the club. It was clear from the din of the music that the regatta party was well underway. Sidney could see from Charlotte’s expression that she had about as much desire to go as he did. “We’ll keep it short, give our regards to Tom then I’ll find out Eliza’s price, okay?”

Charlotte nodded, taking his hand firmly. “Whatever happens, remember, we’re together.”

*****

Both Charlotte and Sidney accepted the cocktails Tom offered but had no intention of drinking them. From the atmosphere, it was fairly clear that everyone had enjoyed themselves at various preparties. Regattas in the past had been more family-friendly, this year it didn’t feel very friendly at all to Sidney.

“I guess this is our last regatta as the resort owners,” Tom said taking a sip of his drink. He slurred his words a bit as that was most certainly not his first and wouldn’t be his last drink of the night. “I’m sorry for being so foolish, Sidney. I’ve ruined everything.”

“Where are Mary and Arthur?” Sidney asked as he scanned the room.

“Arthur took her home—she couldn’t stand to be in the same room with Eliza after everything,” Tom said, taking a long drink of his cocktail as he looked to Eliza who was standing on the terrace in what looked to be a heated discussion with Clara. 

Sidney tried to stop Tom’s downward spiral. “Tom, I don’t think it was all your fault—this whole thing was planned and we just didn’t see it coming,” he said, placing his hand on Tom’s back and guiding him to a chair. “It will all work out for the best—so maybe take it easy with the drinks tonight.”

Tom clasped Sidney’s hand, “I’m so sorry brother—I will find a way to repair this all, I promise.”

“I know,” Sidney said, giving him a weak smile as he looked through the crowd at Eliza. She caught his glance and brushed Clara away. “I’ll go and get this over with,” he said, giving as confident a look at Charlotte as he could then followed Eliza to a secluded spot on the terrace out of Charlotte’s sight.

*****

“How much Eliza?” he asked, wanting to get what he knew would be an obscene number on the table.

“A year,” she said.

Sidney looked at her questioning.

“A year plus three percent above what I paid for the shares,” she said. “I’ll reduce the price the longer you stay—after five years, I’ll give them to you.”

“The longer I stay? I don’t understand,” he said.

“I was telling you the truth when we had lunch. I want you by my side again,” she said, moving closer. “All you have to do is be loyal to me.”

“Why?” he said, stepping back. “You never loved me then and you know I don’t love you now.”

She didn’t answer his question. “I’ll even sweeten the deal. You’re the one who put investigators into motion on Tom’s deal. I’ll ensure Georgiana stays out of it—everything with her name on it will be destroyed.”

“Eliza, this makes no sense—we’d both be miserable,” he said.

“No, I’ll be the winner,” she smiled almost coyly.

“Has this all really been a game to you?” he asked in sickened disbelief.

“That’s all any of life is Sidney—and I make the rules. You should have never walked out on me—the game was not over, I was just changing the rules when I married my husband. I just needed him for a different game,” she said, with more honesty than anything else she’d said before to him.

“No deal,” Sidney said, not needing to think. He turned to leave, seeing that Charlotte had followed him and was a mere twenty steps away.

“I wouldn’t be so hasty,” Eliza said, grabbing his arm. “If you don’t take my offer, Tom will most likely drink himself into oblivion, I’m sure Mary will finally leave him, I’m fairly confident Georgiana will find her way into some investigation, and your little Charlotte, I think Ocean Funds will fire her rather quickly when I talk to them about her ‘behavior’ and offer a hefty donation.”

Sidney looked to Charlotte then back to Eliza, her hand still on his arm. “I leave at nine tomorrow morning for London to sign the final papers then the resort is mine. I expect you to join me,” she said, leaving Sidney drained. As she walked past Charlotte, she grinned, “it’s time for you to say goodbye.”

Charlotte wouldn’t let herself be stunned and immediately responded, “you’re wrong Eliza. I’m not going anywhere. I love Sidney and he loves me—you can’t break us apart.”

Eliza stepped close to Charlotte, locking eyes with her. “I already have.”

*****

They were halfway back to the Fife and neither Sidney nor Charlotte had spoken a word. They were both angry but also spent.

“When are we going to talk about what she said to you?” Charlotte asked, removing her hand from his as she sat on a bench on the dock.

Sidney didn’t sit. He was too anxious and too ashamed that he unknowingly brought this all on his family and now Charlotte. “Her offer doesn’t matter—I won’t take it. The price is too high.”

“She said I needed to say goodbye to you,” Charlotte said, her eyes angry even repeating those words.

“No,” Sidney said, sitting close beside her, lacing his fingers with hers. “It’s just part of her game. There is nothing to worry about.” He looked at her, not breaking their gaze, “the future will look different, it will be better, and we’ll build it together.” Sidney kissed her gently on her forehead and pulled her close, deep inside wondering if it may be for the last time. Even though he said those words, Sidney didn’t know if he could really sacrifice his entire family and Charlotte’s future for his own happiness.

*****

They were both exhausted when returning to the Fife and Charlotte was simply happy to collapse into Sidney’s arms and sleep.

Sleep—although he so desired it—wouldn’t come. As Charlotte slept peacefully, Sidney studied her for hours. He memorized every breath, every soft sigh, every curve. The options Eliza placed in front of him kept playing in his head as were the fates of those he loved. Even if he was able to get the former shareholders to file complaints, it would take time and, in that time, Eliza could do a lot of damage. Sidney slowly and quietly untangled from Charlotte, dressed and made his way to the deck, locking the cabin door behind him. He needed to walk—he didn’t know where, he just needed to clear his mind.

Charlotte half-opened her eyes as she heard the door click and looked at the clock—“2:17,” she registered and quickly fell back asleep.

*****

It was just before seven when Charlotte awoke to the sound of a text alert. She reached over the empty bed to pick up the phone, half expecting it to be from Sidney. It was not—it was from her mother.

_Did you see this? This is terrible. Call me when you can. Love you._

Charlotte clicked the link to the news site – _Woman Found Strangled on Sanditon Beach._ She quickly scanned the article looking for a name, but there was none. Charlotte dressed and made her way to the deck, there was no sign of Sidney but she did see Stringer exiting her building, heading to the Fife.

“Good morning Charlotte,” Stringer said with a serious tone that reminded her of the first time they met at the hospital. “Is Sidney here with you?”

Charlotte hesitated, instinctively not wanting to say she was alone. Her eyes scanned the dock and she thankfully spotted Sidney walking around the corner with coffees in hand. “He just went to get coffee,” she pointed his way and Stringer turned.

Sidney handed Charlotte a coffee and kissed her cheek lightly. “If I knew you were coming, I would have picked you up one,” Sidney said to Stringer, taking a long sip.

“I’m actually here on business—I need to know where you both were last night,” Stringer asked, hoping for honest answers.

“Here,” Sidney responded quickly. “Why?”

“All night?” Stringer clarified.

“Yes, asleep all night,” Sidney said.

Charlotte looked at him, his eyes were tired and she wondered where he had been for nearly five hours, then she turned back to Stringer. “What is this all about?”

“Two kids found a body on the resort beach this morning. It’s all over the news,” he said, looking at them both—ready to gauge their reactions. “It’s Eliza.”

*****

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks as always for reading. I had a few people ask about Eliza’s motivation and wealth – I hope the reference Georgiana makes gives an idea of how Eliza thinks (um thought) and how very wealthy she is (was). And also, as always, thanks for putting up with me!


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for reading and being so wonderful! Have a great day!

Charlotte watched Stringer glance back with an unsatisfied look as he walked away down the dock—she had a sinking feeling those would not be the last of his questions. Sidney had taken a call, prematurely ending Stringer’s line of inquiry about their conversations with Eliza the night before. All of Sidney’s answers seemed to gloss over any details and while Charlotte’s immediate instinct told her not to contradict him, it wasn’t in her nature to lie and it made her nervous and fidgety. She was confident her discomfort must have been obvious to Stringer. Sidney had quickly excused himself to the cabin to take his call and Charlotte waited until Stringer disappeared into the parking lot before joining him below.

She couldn’t understand why he didn’t tell the truth and was determined to get to the bottom of it. From the tension in Sidney’s voice, Charlotte inferred it was business and stood in the hallway outside the open door to his stateroom to let him finish. She could see his reflection in the dresser mirror and watched as he started to undress. He tried to take off his shirt and fumbled with the phone at his ear until he decided to lay it on the bed and put it on speaker. “Is this really necessary? You’d be taking a huge loss, Sidney,” a woman’s voice said, her tone a mix of confusion and care.

Charlotte could see a large scratch on Sidney’s forearm that she hadn’t noticed yesterday—“it’s probably from when we broke the chair,” she thought to herself, trying to dismiss it quickly.

Sidney stood in just his black boxer briefs, “look, as I said earlier, I’m not telling you to pull the trigger. I don’t care about the losses—just give me a number if I had to disappear,” he said, picking up the phone and taking it off speaker. “And make sure we get those shares; I want control secured today. Tell the investors we’ll pay fair price, not those exorbitant rates Eliza offered,” he said as he made his way across the room. Charlotte stepped away from the doorway and leaned against the wall so he wouldn’t see her. “I know, I know,” he said. “They should take what they can get now—a murder here is sure to drive our share price down—at least in the short term…” he trailed off as he entered the bathroom and closed the door behind him.

Charlotte stood frozen—she was wrestling with the fact that he seemed to have everything in motion yet they were both just informed of the news of Eliza’s death. She wasn’t sure what she had heard but a feeling of dread came over her and she tried to rein it in. “You don’t have the facts, calm down,” she told herself. It didn’t work and she needed to get some air. As her foot fell on the last stair step up to the deck, she could hear Sidney call, “Charlotte, I’m in the shower, come join me.”

*****

Stringer sat in his car and was frustrated. The only thing he knew for sure was that Charlotte and Sidney had just lied to him. “Don’t they understand how much worse this will make it,” Stringer said to himself as he turned on the engine. A call from Diana made him pause before putting the car in drive. He probably shouldn’t talk with her now given her family’s as well as her close contact with the victim, but after the fourth ring, he couldn’t resist.

“James, are you okay? Were you able to get any sleep?” she asked with a panicked tone he’d never heard from her before.

“I’m fine—a little tired. It was an early start to what will most certainly be a long day. How are you and Georgiana?” he asked.

“We’re fine—she’s still asleep. Thank you for driving us all the way to London yesterday. You know you could have stayed after dinner,” she said, “but it sounds as if it was a good idea you didn’t. What happened? I saw the news online.”

“It’s Eliza,” he said, hearing no response for a few seconds.

“I know,” she uttered quietly. “I saw the picture on Twitter this morning before they took it down—those marks around her neck, horrible.”

The dead body had been too much of a social media temptation for the two kids who found her. The members of the secondary school track team were having an early morning training session on the beach when they came across Eliza and they had posted the picture of her on their social media feed before even calling the police. Their actions made Stringer pause to think about their morals and the future of the world.

Stringer didn’t like what he was about to do but knew he needed to get to the truth. “I just talked with Sidney and he told me all the details of Eliza’s conversation with you all yesterday on the dock, how are you feeling?”

Thinking Sidney had come clean, Diana detailed the way Eliza manipulated Georgiana to orchestrate the deal that forced Tom to sell his shares as well as what she understood to be threats against Georgiana’s future. She also talked about Eliza’s despicable treatment of Charlotte.

“It must have been infuriating,” Stringer commented, trying to give her an opening to share more details.

“I think we were all shocked, but Sidney was furious. Georgiana is like a daughter to him—and that Eliza would hurt her, it’s unthinkable. Eliza’s horrible, I mean we know she was behind everything with Charlotte,” Diana stopped, suddenly realizing that she wasn’t talking to James, she was talking to Detective Stringer. “I need to go.”

“If you need to talk…” James started, but Diana had already ended the call. “This will not go well,” Stringer said aloud to himself as he put the car in drive.

*****

Charlotte sat on the deck, still in the clothes she had just thrown on to find Sidney. She decided it best to unhear his invitation and opted instead to write a quick note and head back to her apartment to shower and change.

As Charlotte made her way back to her apartment, her eyes could see the front of Sidney's Jeep in the lot. It wasn’t parked where they had left it the day before when they returned from the cottage. She couldn’t recall him saying he’d gone anywhere. “There’s an explanation for everything,” she whispered to herself, as she unlocked her door. She automatically walked to the alarm pad, but it wasn’t armed.

“With everything yesterday, you left without turning it on,” she thought, trying to convince herself as she rearmed it and glanced around the apartment. Nothing seemed out of place as she walked through her bedroom but she had a strange feeling that someone had been there. She knew her thinking was off as she made her way to the window and looked out at the Fife. “You love Sidney and he would never hurt anyone,” she said aloud to herself trying not to remember yesterday’s anger. 

After a few minutes of looking out the window, she padded into the bedroom, undressed, laid out some new clothes and walked naked into the bathroom. The warm water was just what she needed and after a few minutes, she started to hasten her pace. She wanted to talk with Sidney and get this sorted out. Charlotte turned off the water, quickly toweled off, then brushed out her hair as she went into the bedroom to grab the jeans and t-shirt she had taken out to wear. She dropped the brush to the floor when she found the clothes she had put out were gone and in their place was the ocean blue cocktail dress she wore the night she was drugged.


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for reading! I know there is a lot of crazy time compression here—things don’t move this fast in real life, but that’s the fun of fiction. 😊 And thanks for continuing to suspend disbelief!

Sidney waited a few minutes, letting the warm water soothe his tired body, then called out again to Charlotte—and again no response. He wanted her near him. He knew he didn’t have the right words, but he just needed to hold her and be held by her so he could feel the comfort that only came from her embrace. In such a short time, they had both come so far together and he desperately never wanted it to end—no matter what may come.

The sound of his phone ringing caused him to quickly end his shower and reach for the phone. He answered hoping it was Charlotte, not looking at the caller ID.

“I’m so sorry Sidney, I had no idea,” Diana said, apologizing after she explained that she had shared too much information with Stringer.

“I understand—it’s hard to know where or if to draw the line between family and, well, the person you love,” Sidney said, running his fingers through his damp hair. “I just want to keep Georgiana’s name out of as much of this as possible.”

“I know—I wasn’t thinking,” Diana said, wholly contrite.

Sidney didn’t have the words to pacify her and was wondering where Charlotte had gone. As Diana talked, he quickly pulled on a white t-shirt over a pair of jeans. “Don’t worry Di, it will all be okay,” he said, walking around the Fife.

“How is Charlotte holding up with all of this? It’s not as if she hasn’t had her run-ins with Eliza,” Diana asked. “Has there been any word of Edward since he left with Eliza’s yacht?”

“Nothing on Edward—I’m guessing he’s a million miles away by now,” Sidney said, hoping it was true and becoming more concerned Charlotte wasn’t there. He finally stumbled upon her note— _Went to shower and change_. “I’m heading up to Charlotte now,” he said. “I need to go, love you,” he ended the call, bolting up the stairs to the deck. Her note was too brief and he didn’t like the fact that she even wrote it—“why didn’t she just tell me she was leaving—did Stringer say something to her?” he wondered to himself as he locked the cabin door behind him. 

Before he could make it to the dock, Sidney’s phone rang again, this time it was a call from Arthur. “Have you heard?” Arthur said, without waiting for Sidney to speak.

“Yes,” Sidney responded, looking up at Charlotte’s windows from the deck of the Fife.

“Did you do it?” Arthur asked, half morbidly joking, half not.

“Arthur!” Sidney said, exasperated. “This is not the time for your type of humor.”

“Look, I’m just not good with this—it’s hard to feel remorse for a woman who hurt you and tried to destroy our family,” Arthur said, with not a drop of regret.

“I don’t even know how I feel right now. I have to go,” Sidney said, jumping from the boat to the dock.

“Wait, really, have you talked to Tom? He’s not picking up and Mary is looking for him—he didn’t come home last night and he left her A LOT of voicemails that were full of regret—most of what he said was unintelligible, but I’m worried about him—yes, me Arthur is worried about Tom. Do you know where he is?” he questioned.

Sidney stopped in his tracks and looked around the marina—now concerned for Tom’s safety. He didn’t like how he left Tom somewhat slumped in his chair drinking last night—but at that point, Sidney was too concerned with his impending conversation with Eliza to really think about it. “He’s probably sleeping it off in his office—I’ll find him. I really need to go, love you,” Sidney said, ending the call and trying to quickly call Tom.

*****

Stringer knocked on the office door, but there was no answer. The resort guests in the lobby were abuzz with the news of Eliza’s death and there were a few people looking to end their vacations early. Stringer had put a halt on any guest departures with the resort staff and had done so as well with the harbormaster until he could get his arms around this. He had his theories; he just didn’t want to believe them.

He could hear the sound of a television and the ringing of a phone, but no answer. Stringer opened Tom’s office door and saw the phone on the desk—a missed call from Sidney—and he could hear a shower going in the adjacent bathroom. The couch had clearly been slept on and there was an empty brandy bottle on the floor. It was hard to miss the sand near the foot of the sofa as if someone had fallen asleep with his shoes on.

“Tom, it’s James Stringer, I need to talk with you,” he called out as he took a few pictures of the office with his phone.

“I’ll be right out,” Tom yelled. A few minutes later Tom opened the door, looking hungover but freshly dressed. “James, I mean Detective. I assume you’re here in an official capacity. Horrible news, just horrible news,” Tom said, as he donned a newly pressed suitcoat. “Can I offer you some coffee, tea?” he said, motioning for Stringer to take a seat.

“No, thank you,” Stringer said, immediately regretting he hadn’t said yes to the coffee, but he was short on time. “Look, I already talked to your head of security and he’s wanting your approval—I need all of the surveillance footage from the last few days and I need it an hour ago. Please call him now,” he said firmly. Stringer’s team knew what to look for, he just needed the damn footage.

Tom dialed the phone and instructed his team to provide all files to the awaiting officer—his head was reeling, trying to determine what Stringer was looking for. 

“Why the last few days?” Tom asked, “don’t you just need last night?”

Stringer ignored Tom’s question. “Did you have a tough time last night Tom?” Stringer said, looking around.

“It was our last regatta party—well, I guess not the last now,” he smiled nervously. “I was drowning my sorrows a bit.”

“Did you talk with Eliza last night?” Stringer asked, again regretting the lack of caffeine.

“No, the last time I talked to her she laughed me away. Last night she was only interested in Sidney and Charlotte,” Tom said, realizing after the words came out of his mouth that he probably shouldn’t have said them.

“Were you on the beach last night?” Stringer asked as Tom’s phone rang.

Tom gave a signal to Stringer to wait one second, “it’s Sidney.”

“Yes, terrible, terrible,” Tom said. “Have you, um,” Tom turned from Stringer and tried to muffle his words, but Stringer could hear each one. “Have you made arrangements for the shares? Good, good. Yes, he’s here right now.”

*****

“Tom, be careful with what you say. Now go home and see your wife,” Sidney counseled and ended the call with Tom as he entered Charlotte’s building. His phone rang again and this time he ignored it knowing Babington could wait until after he talked with Charlotte.

He knocked on Charlotte’s door and she didn’t respond. He called and he could hear the phone ring with no answer. Sidney had been here before and was kicking himself for not getting a copy of her key. “Charlotte,” he called out as he knocked again. “Are you okay?”

Thanks to the reinforced concrete walls of the building, Charlotte could barely hear Sidney. The second Charlotte saw the dress on the bed she immediately retreated into the bathroom and locked the door. No windows, no phone—no way out and no way to contact anyone. She sat on the floor wrapped in a towel with her back pressed into the locked door, bracing her legs against the counter to keep the door shut for what she felt must have been at least thirty minutes. She had yelled a few times, but she knew that the building’s construction combined with the fact that she was in a well-tiled bathroom that no one would hear. She shouted as loud as she could, “Sidney—is that you?”

“Charlotte!” Sidney repeated again and with the rumble of his voice, Charlotte had no doubt it was him. She unbraced her legs and stumbled to get to her feet, her muscles sore. She grabbed the only weapon she had in the bathroom, a small pair of grooming scissors, inhaled deeply and opened the bathroom door. Charlotte ran quickly to the apartment door and tried to open it, fumbling with the deadbolt. After a few tries, she succeeded in opening the door, throwing herself into Sidney’s arms.

With the breath knocked out of him, Sidney stumbled back, but he held Charlotte tight as he righted himself. She clung to him desperately and he could feel her shaking. Sidney tried to calm her, his hands holding firm. He heard the alarm tweets start to accelerate, signaling a call to the police that he was not ready to welcome. He unwound from her embrace and held her hand as he entered the apartment and disarmed the alarm. Charlotte grabbed her towel to hold it up and when Sidney reached to close the apartment door, she stopped him. “Edward is here,” she whispered, finally finding her voice.

Sidney had Charlotte wait in the hallway as he looked around the small apartment. Sidney identified the few places Edward could hide. He quietly approached the hall closet near the door and opened it—nothing. The same for her bedroom closet, under the bed and anywhere else possible. Sidney took Charlotte’s hand and led her back into the apartment, closing the door behind her. “There’s no one here,” he said, gently taking the small scissors from her grip.

Charlotte looked around confused, “but he left the dress, the dress from that night on my bed.”

Sidney walked into the bedroom with Charlotte’s hand clutched in his. On the bed he found a t-shirt and a pair of jeans. Charlotte ran to the bed, pulling up the covers, scanning the floor. “I swear it was here,” she said looking back at Sidney, her eyes eager for understanding. “I swear, I came out of the shower and it was here.”

“Are you sure Charlotte, maybe the light was reflecting from the window and distorting things,” he said, placing his hands on her shoulders. “I thought that dress would be in evidence and your alarm was on when I arrived,” he stroked her cheek, his concern for her growing as he looked into her confused eyes. 

Charlotte interpreted his concern as doubt and pushed his arms away, “I know what I saw.” She picked up the clothes and turned her back to him as she quickly dressed.

Sidney followed her as she spent what seemed to be an hour going again and again from room to room looking for some trace of Edward. Her behavior seemed manic and Sidney was beginning to seriously worry. She finally broke her concentration and headed to the kitchen. He watched as she sifted through papers on the table looking for the user guide for the alarm—she was sure there was a way to go online and check when it had been armed and disarmed.

“It’s been a stressful morning—we’re all on edge. I’m sure our eyes are just playing tricks on us,” he said in a way that Charlotte could not interpret in any manner other than condescending, even though he didn’t intend it.

Charlotte tried to calm herself before speaking, but her fear combined with frustration had taken over. “Stressful Sidney? I damn well know what I saw. Let’s talk about stressful—I heard you talk about disappearing…”

“Stop Charlotte,” Sidney said forcefully as he looked around and walked to her. “Not here—it’s not what you think.” He took her hands in his and looked at her with deep care and what he hoped she’d see as understanding. “I love you—and as we’ve both pledged, we’re in this together,” he said, as they both took a minute to calm down. “We need to tell each other the truth. Let’s go to the Fife and talk.”

Every reasonable bone in her body told Charlotte to get to the truth right then and there, but she also knew this was not a conversation to be had in her apartment, no matter how insulated the walls might be. Charlotte nodded, threw the guide and her tablet in her bag, and took his hand as they walked out of the apartment, arming the alarm as she left.

Sidney looked at her as he closed the door, “and no matter what happens, I will always love you.”

On the short walk to the dock, every possible scenario of what could have happened last night between Sidney and Eliza played in her head and none of them made her release his hand. She realized that she had something for him she never had for another person—she had faith in him.

She followed him quickly but started to slow her pace then came to a standstill as she began to feel dizzy. Sidney stopped just outside her building and caught her up as she seemed to look faint. “Have you had anything to eat in the last day?” he asked, brushing her hair from her face.

“I’m fine. Really, with everything, right now you’re worried about me eating?” she said, shaking her head slightly.

He smiled at her and pulled her close. “I care more about your wellbeing than I can ever express… you know that you’re everything to me, right?”

Before Charlotte could respond, she watched Sidney’s smile fade as he spotted Stringer and two officers approaching. “Listen to me,” he said quietly, looking directly into her eyes. “This is going to get messy and you need to get somewhere safe. Go to Babington and tell him _Beaufort sisters_ —he’ll know what to do, you can trust him.”

Charlotte looked at him confused as he handed her his keys to the Fife.

“Tonight, take the Fife and go. Babington can help you. I’ll arrange for everything you’ll need,” he guided her hands to hide the keys in her pocket. “I hid a satellite phone under galley sink—don’t give the number to anyone. I’ll call when I can,” Sidney said quickly, as Stringer came within earshot.

“Sidney, I need to talk with you,” Stringer said. “It will be best if you come with us now.”

Sidney nodded. He looked back at Charlotte. “I love you,” his lips said silently then he kissed her softly. Sidney’s look told her not to follow as he accompanied Stringer and the two officers to the parking lot and into the waiting squad car. She hoped her eyes were conveying her love for him and not her fear for and perhaps of him. You see, Charlotte knew in her heart that Sidney could never kill anyone, her head wasn’t quite as certain. All she had was faith.


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading and for the encouraging comments that keep me going--I truly appreciate them even if I don't always know the right words to say in response! Have a lovely day--not too many chapters left (I think).

Sidney could feel all eyes on him as he exited the patrol car and walked into the station. He was working hard to display confidence, but his heart was racing and he felt completely alone. “Keep it together Parker,” he thought to himself again and again.

Stringer was standing near the entrance and Sidney watched as an officer handed him a message. Stringer instructed the officers to lead Sidney to interrogation. As Sidney passed, he met Stringer’s eyes with what could only be described as disdain.

Stringer held Sidney’s gaze and then headed to his office to meet with someone he hoped could fill in some of the gaps.

“Wait, Stringer,” Sidney said. “I’ve come here willingly—I need you to do something for me.”

Stringer walked over to face him. “What?”

“I need you to confirm for me that Charlotte’s dress from that night with Edward—that it’s locked up in evidence,” he said quietly.

“Why?” Stringer asked.

“Just find out,” Sidney said as he followed the officers into interrogation.

*****

Charlotte stood on the dock alone for several minutes, trying to comprehend what just happened and wishing she had told Sidney she loved him back. She had many questions running through her head— _Was he guilty? What did he mean by messy? Why did he want her to leave instead of letting her help him?_

She was too confused and uncertain for her liking and she was starting to doubt herself, wondering if she could trust even her own eyes. There was one question she wanted answered now. Charlotte climbed aboard the Fife and powered up her tablet. She looked through the alarm instructions—noticing for the first time that the installer had written the alarm code on the cover. “Great,” she thought. She pulled up her alarm log and was momentarily relieved that she was right—she had forgotten to arm the system yesterday. She concluded that’s when Edward must have entered. He must have been in her apartment while she undressed and showered, then exchanged the clothes and left and adjusted the alarm when she locked herself in the bathroom. “The logs prove it—but why would he bother? Why would he risk getting caught?” she wondered.

The thought of Edward watching her naked sent chills through her and even though the docks were crowded on that sunny day, she felt defenseless sitting on the Fife alone. She knew she didn’t want to go to her apartment—possibly ever again—and decided it was best to follow Sidney’s direction and go to Babington, reminding herself to eat something along the way.

*****

Stringer walked into the room, finding Sidney pacing back and forth. Sidney had been waiting for nearly forty minutes and was not liking the game Stringer was playing.

“Have a seat,” Stringer said, pointing to the chair across from him.

“No, tell me about the dress first,” Sidney asked.

“I checked on it myself, it’s in our evidence room. Why is it important?” Stringer asked.

Sidney just shook his head, worried about Charlotte and hoping she was safely at Babington’s.

“Do you want any legal representation?” Stringer asked.

“Am I under arrest or am I here to be questioned as an upstanding citizen of Sanditon?” Sidney asked with a calm that he was finding challenging to display. “My lawyer is in London so it will take some time for her to get here—so maybe you can cut to the chase,” Sidney said. He didn’t like being there and was having memories of sitting in the same interrogation room years ago for what they thought was a crime but was most certainly justified to defend Diana. 

“I just want to talk,” Stringer said, trying hard to forget all he knew of Sidney and only see him for what he was at that moment.

“So talk,” Sidney said, placing his hands on the table, strumming the fingers of his right hand lightly.

“You hated Eliza, is that right?” Stringer began.

“I don’t hate people,” Sidney replied not taking his eyes from his fingers as they continued their uninterrupted rhythm.

“She was doing horrible things to you, Tom, Georgiana, and,” Stringer paused, trying to get Sidney to look at him. He was successful and as Sidney looked up, he continued, “Charlotte.”

Sidney detested the ploy and looked back down at the table. “Let’s get back to Eliza,” Stringer said, and for several minutes he gave his interpretation of the story he heard from Diana about their various encounters as well as what he learned from the witnesses of their lunch together and his discussion with Eliza at the regatta.

“So you have a lot of reasons to kill her, don’t you agree Sidney?” Stringer said.

Sidney shook his head, “nice stories, any proof?”

“Tell me what you did to your arm there,” Stringer asked.

“I took a bike to get fixed yesterday before Babington’s fundraiser and scratched my arm lifting it out of my Jeep,” he said. “Bill at the shop saw the entire thing.”

Stringer nodded, taking a long sip of his much-needed coffee. He thought it was best just to get to it. “The news said Eliza was strangled, what do you think of that?” Stringer asked.

“What should I think?” Sidney asked, revealing nothing.

“Well, you were with her for a long time, right Sidney?” Stringer started. “You were knowledgeable of her sexual desires.”

Sidney looked at Stringer, not wanting to remember. There were things Eliza liked later in their relationship that he refused to be part of and he had no wish to bring it up here with Stringer.

“What if I told you all the headlines are mistaken—the damn kids and their picture on Twitter have everyone pointed in the wrong direction, which is fine with me,” he said, taking another long sip of his coffee. “The cause of death was not strangulation—it was trauma from a blow to the back of her head. No one saw it until we turned the body at the morgue,” Stringer said, looking for a reaction.

Sidney already knew the reason Eliza had started with the scarves was to hide her desire to incorporate choking into her pleasure and was actually saddened to see her still in such practice when she returned to Sanditon. He was not one to make judgments about how one achieves pleasure, but he personally didn’t like the idea of tying an act that was supposed to be the most intimate reflection of love and life to a violence that could result in death.

“I’m not a detective, so I guess I wouldn’t know what to think,” Sidney said.

“Sidney, let’s drop all of this. I know you didn’t kill her,” Stringer said.

Sidney returned his glance to his hands.

Stringer continued, “I drove past the All Nighter Diner when I came back from taking Diana and Georgiana to London and I saw you sitting in a booth by the window. When I pulled their surveillance video, you were there for nearly two hours nursing several cups of coffee—during the time Eliza was killed. Why are you lying to me?” Stringer asked, the frustration of no sleep grating his voice.

“Well, I’m not really sure why I’m here if you know I didn’t kill Eliza,” Sidney said as he stood up from the table and started walking to the door.

“Sit down Sidney, I have more,” Stringer said, waiting for Sidney to sit.

“I know where you were and I know where all the Parkers were—including Tom, who after a short walk on the beach, passed out in his office per the resort security videos. My question is, where was Charlotte?” Stringer asked. “She had a lot of reasons to hate Eliza—not just for what Eliza was doing to you, but supposedly to her as well. I just talked with her Ocean Funds colleague who told me about Charlotte’s erratic behavior yesterday and her rants against Eliza. And now, with you on camera at the diner, Charlotte has no alibi.”

Sidney looked at Stringer, his eyes black. “Charlotte would never hurt anyone. Never,” he said, trying to control his temper not only at Stringer, but with himself because he had already let the thought pass through his mind and was desperately ashamed that he had done so. While he sat at the diner, he came up with a plan that he could liquidate everything and he and Charlotte could disappear together, thinking eventually that might abate Eliza’s vengeance. After Stringer told them of Eliza’s death, he thought he may still need to put that plan into action for other reasons—he’d lose so much of what he worked for, but he’d give it all up for Charlotte.

“You’re not helping her,” Stringer said, trying to show some understanding. “I’ve got her on my own voicemail just a few nights ago saying she could kill Eliza for her slanderous remarks and I’ve got her on video looking in a state of pure vengeance in the lobby of the resort as she left the message,” he said. “I know she’s a victim and I’m sure the judge will take that into account. She just needs to come clean, tell us the truth, show some remorse.”

Sidney shook his head, “you’re dead wrong Stringer. And there is a killer out there getting away and you’re letting it happen.”

“We’ll know soon enough. I sent the officers to get Charlotte—they should be back shortly. I just wanted to give you an opportunity to do the right thing—aiding and abetting won’t be good for you,” Stringer said. “You should call your lawyer,” he added as he looked apologetically at Sidney.

Stringer walked out of the interrogation room and closed the door behind him, leaning his tired body against the cold metal. It wasn’t the lack of sleep that exhausted him at that point, it was the certainty that Diana would never forgive him.

Sidney could barely breathe. He needed to leave. Knowing that the dress was safely in evidence made him even more concerned about Charlotte and while he was confident she couldn’t have done what Stringer suspected, he was worried the effect of everything she’d been through was starting to have on her. And if somehow that dress was really in her apartment, then someone was playing a sick game—and he needed to stop it. Under the watchful eye of the officers, he called his attorney, instructing her not to drive, but to take a helicopter and get there fast. 

*****  
Charlotte finished her last taco as she approached Babington’s yacht, shoving the final wrapper in her bag. The security guard looked her over, recognizing her from the day before, and radioed for permission to let her aboard. She was quickly escorted to the living room where Esther sat at a table reviewing plans.

“Ah, Charlotte—I didn’t expect to see you today,” she said, giving her a quick hug. “What crazy news don’t you think? And that picture! The entire family must be in shock. How is Sidney doing?” she asked, holding Charlotte’s hands in hers.

Esther’s caring tone prompted Charlotte to let down her guard and the reality of the day’s events caused the tears to fall freely. Before Charlotte could explain the reasons for her tears to Esther, Babington entered, giving Esther a questioning look—wondering if he should leave them alone.

Charlotte removed her hands from Esther’s and looked at him. Her voice strained by tears, Charlotte started, “Sidney said to tell you Beaumont, no, Beaufort sisters—I don’t know what it means, he just said I can trust you.”

Babington looked at her and gave a warm smile. “Give me one minute,” he said then picked up the direct line to the captain. “Hi—give all nonessential staff the next twenty-four off, get them rooms at the resort, no excuses.” He looked at Esther, adding “the wife and I want some time alone. And send the front guard in.”

Within a minute the guard was in the room. Babington spoke softly, but Charlotte could hear his words. “Ms. Heywood is not here—she hasn’t been here since yesterday, understood?” he said and the guard nodded. “Keep everyone away from and off this yacht,” Babington said, dismissing him.

“Can I offer you something to drink?” he asked, grabbing a bottle of water for himself and one for Charlotte. He handed it to her as well as his handkerchief and motioned for her to sit.

“Now tell me, where is Sidney?” he asked calmly.

Charlotte took a few deep breaths to calm herself. “Stringer took him to the station—he said they had some questions for him,” she said, wiping her eyes. Esther sat down next to her and held her hand.

“That’s to be expected—there was a lot of drama yesterday. He’ll be fine—we all know he couldn’t kill anyone,” Babington smiled at her. “Parker is one of the best friends, one of the best men I know.”

Charlotte exhaled deeply, thinking it best not to share what she had overheard earlier that morning.

“You know how he and I became good friends?” he asked, trying to lighten the mood. “We were friends for a while at prep, but it wasn’t until we were at university that he really proved his mettle. There were these two sisters—the Beaufort sisters—they were relentless. They were strangely enamored with me—more likely my family’s connections—and would not leave me alone. We’re talking months and months. I was fairly blunt with them, rude really, and they wouldn’t let up. I couldn’t go anywhere without them following me—the library, class, even my room, it was horrible. And they started doing things that, if the administration thought I was party to it, I could have been expelled,” he said, shaking his head. “It was actually really scary.”

“While my other friends just laughed and made fun of me, Sidney helped me. He gave me his room and his study cube, he’d head the sisters off when he’d see them coming, he’d even bring me food when I was trying to study when they staked out the dining hall. He believed me and helped me when no one would—it really meant a lot and it became our signal. If one of us says ‘Beaufort sisters,’ we get automatic shelter and immediate priority—no matter what. He’s helped me through a lot, he even helped me win the hand of my beautiful Esther here,” he said, looking lovingly at Esther. “Don’t worry about anything Charlotte—it will all be okay. Let me call one of my friends and see what we can find out about what’s going on at the station,” he said, heading to his office.

“Are you hungry?” Esther asked. “I’m thinking cook is gone, but I actually can rustle up some food you know,” she said smiling.

“I’m okay,” Charlotte said, realizing she consumed four tacos on the way over.

“Well come here then, let me show you what I’m working on—that might take your mind off of things for at least a second,” Esther said.

Charlotte looked at the maps of Sanditon splayed across the table. “This is where we are now—the Parker resort. This is all the land Sidney says he wants to turn into a preserve. And this little nugget, this is mine,” she said, smiling. “It’s only a few hectares right on the ocean—it was my aunt’s and she left it to me. A couple of centuries ago there used to be a grand house on the land but now it only has a boathouse on it where we used to play and camp as kids, but I think it could be a great place to have a research facility to focus on conserving the surrounding waters. What do you think?” she asked, her eyes bright. “And I really think it would be quite a coo to get you to lead it.”

Charlotte couldn’t comprehend anything beyond the mention of the boathouse. “Does Edward know about the boathouse?” she asked, staring at the plans and thinking how easy it would be to get there unseen by just walking up the beach or by using something as simple as a kayak to move around.

Before Esther could answer, Babington quickly opened the door. “Charlotte, do you have your phone?”

Charlotte retrieved her bag and fished it out. Babington grabbed it and powered it off. “Do you have anything else on you that could be traced?”

Charlotte dumped her bag on the table over the papers, embarrassed by the taco wrappers, and Babington grabbed her tablet and powered it down—he eyed her watch, but realized it was an antique analog and exhaled. “Well, I think we can expect some company shortly. Charlotte, stay away from all the windows—it seems that our intrepid Detective Stringer is looking for you.”


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Something of maybe an overly descriptive chapter. Thank you for reading and for all of your lovely thoughts and comments. I hope you have a great day!

Sidney’s lawyer, Susan, had effectively decimated Stringer and the crown prosecutor and even though it took her nearly two hours to get to the station, Sidney was free in the parking lot within thirty minutes of her arrival. Susan had been his legal advisor for more than a decade and while criminal law wasn’t her specialty, she had the sharpest logic he’d seen in either a boardroom or a courtroom and trusted she was the only person for this job.

Looking around to ensure they were unobserved, she started with a not-so-gentle punch in the arm. “What the hell is going on here, Sidney? These are not the types of messes I usually find you in,” she said, giving him an exasperated look as she brushed back her proudly graying brown hair. Susan knew Eliza—not in explicit detail—and while she felt a bit guilty about it, she did not mourn her passing. 

Sidney shook his head, “I don’t know Susan—Eliza came here playing a sick game and all I can think is that she angered the wrong people along the way.”

“You know I’ve got your back,” she said. “But you need to know, this is the type of case that can make or break careers and I’m sure that detective is getting a lot of heat—and it appears he hasn’t been able to find this Charlotte of yours and he is let’s just say, exceptionally angry.”

Sidney tried not to show his sly smile that they hadn’t located Charlotte. “You may want to leave your cell on and keep the helicopter on retainer,” he said. “I’m not saying I know her whereabouts, but I’m going to need you here to help Charlotte if it comes to that. My fear is that Stringer and his team are only focused on convicting her and not on finding the real killer.”

“Who is Charlotte to you?” Susan asked, trying to assess potential strategies.

Sidney didn’t hesitate, “she’s the woman I love.”

“Well I never thought I’d hear that from you, Mr. Sidney Parker,” she smiled. For years she had tried to introduce him to potential partners and he repeatedly turned them down.

“Susan, I need you to do something else for me. Can you look into a woman Charlotte works with—a Clara…Brenton, no, Brereton. There is something there that isn’t right and she said some things to Stringer that don’t make sense,” he said. 

“Got it. I’ll call my office and have them start on it,” she said, adding a caution. “Watch your back, I’m sure they’ll have you and your yacht under tight surveillance. Don’t give them any reasons—they are ready to pounce.”

Susan started walking to an awaiting town car to take her to the helipad, “oh, and the shares are secured—am I signing them to Tom?”

“No,” Sidney said quickly. “Just keep them with mine for now—once we’re through this, I’ll be making some changes,” he said, giving her a nod as she sat in the car. 

“I guess you can’t choose who you fall in love with—even if they’re a murder suspect,” Susan said to herself as the driver closed the car door.

Sidney watched as Susan’s car drive away then took out his phone. He ignored all the texts from the family, only caring about the one from Babington. _Beaufort confirmed_

He knew he needed to talk to Charlotte and Babington—there was no way she could leave on the Fife tonight—it would be too closely watched. He figured by now they could be monitoring his phone—he only knew of one way to safely get to her tonight. 

*****

Charlotte spent the last hour hidden in the panic room at the back of Esther’s closet. She could see from the security monitors in the room that Babington had allowed Stringer’s officers to roam about the yacht in search of her while he and Esther sat patiently looking over her plans. She didn’t know if hiding was really the right choice, but she decided to follow Sidney’s advice and trust Babington.

She couldn’t stop thinking about the boathouse and reasoned that Edward had to be there. If she could find him then she was sure Sidney would be released. With everything Esther had been through with Edward, she wasn’t sure she wanted to tell Esther her theory. She just wished Sidney was there to help her think this through.

It was another twenty minutes after the authorities departed the yacht when Babington came for her. “Sorry for the delay,” he said. “We wanted to do a sweep to ensure they didn’t have any listening or video devices planted.” Charlotte had to admit she liked Babington’s logical, end-to-end thinking as she followed him to the galley where Esther had started pulling out food from the refrigerator.

“Well that was exciting,” Esther said as she started washing some vegetables. “Any word on Sidney, Babs?” she asked.

“I’m assuming the helicopter we heard earlier was his lawyer. If I were her, I’d advise him to lay low so I don’t think we’ll get a call any time soon,” he said.

“He told me to leave on the Fife tonight,” Charlotte almost whispered, not sure if she should say it.

“That’s not the best idea,” Esther said, starting to chop some mushrooms. “They’re going to be watching that as well as your apartment. Sorry—I think we just have to wait it out a bit until we hear from Sidney.”

Charlotte couldn’t hold it in any longer. “How can you both be so calm?” she asked with astonishment in her voice. “Is this something you deal with often?”

Esther looked at Babington and smiled, almost laughing. “Look Charlotte, both Babs and I have been through a lot, and I mean A LOT. My family is crazy, his family has skeletons in every closet and we’ve seen weird things over the years, especially building a global business. Things work out—it doesn’t make any sense to get lost in the drama of it. All you can do it stay calm and let the drama work itself out,” she said, resuming her vegetable prep. “Oh, and it doesn’t hurt to have money, and a big yacht with a panic room.”

After a quick meal of vegetable pasta, Esther led Charlotte to a stateroom at the other end of the yacht from hers and Babington’s. “Charlotte, I have no idea what you’re dealing with right now, I just hope you know that we’re here to help you and you can count on us both,” she said, pausing before opening the door. “I know Sidney’s friendship with Babs is what brought you here, but I hope that you’ll consider me someone you can count on too.”

She opened the door to what Charlotte thought was one of the most peaceful rooms she’d ever seen. The lights were dim and everything just looked soft and comfortable—the chairs, the bed, even the carpet under her feet—so much so that even though it was still early, Charlotte felt ready to collapse into its luxury.

“I thought you could use a little pampering,” Esther said, walking to the bathroom. “There’s a great tub and I left a few things that should fit for you to choose from. If you need anything just pick up the phone and dial 007 to reach me—yes, I know, I have a Bond thing,” she said, rolling her eyes. “If you get hungry, you know your way back to the galley, yes?”

Charlotte nodded and hugged her tightly. “Thank you, Esther—and when Sidney contacts you…”

“You will be the first to know,” Esther smiled and closed the door softly behind her as she departed.

*****

Sidney sat on the deck of the Fife, identifying the “undercover” surveillance officers. “If they are supposed to blend in, they might want to teach them how to tie a simple slip knot,” he thought to himself.

While he knew he needed to get to Babington’s, he also knew he couldn’t risk leading them to Charlotte. He spent the last hours of light talking on the phone with his family. Diana was angry and swore that she’d never speak to Stringer again. Even though he didn’t like saying it, Sidney reminded her that Stringer was just doing his job and was really a good man at heart. Arthur was still at Tom’s and had a play-by-play report of Mary and Tom’s reconciliation in details he really didn’t want or need to hear, and Georgiana was still upset about trusting Eliza, feeling naïve. Sidney did his best to comfort her, wishing that he could hug her and help her understand that he loved her no matter what.

He finished his call with Georgiana just as the sun disappeared into the water and he made obvious signals to his observers that he was retiring to the cabin for the night. Once inside, Sidney quickly changed into his black wetsuit, put some essentials into his dry bag and turned on the television’s sleep timer to four hours. The distance wasn’t far—maybe a thirty-minute swim to Babington’s yacht—he just needed to avoid being seen. Thanks to Stringer’s hold on boat travel, at least he didn’t need to worry about being caught up in a boat’s propeller—he just needed to get there unseen.

Sidney quietly opened the cabin door, locking it behind him and double-checked the location of his keepers. He stayed low as he made his way to the railing and eased himself in the water—it was colder than he expected and he gave himself some time to adjust. He took a deep breath and set off, as quietly as he could.

*****

Charlotte stood in the middle of the room and so wanted to appreciate it, but she just couldn’t. The image of Sidney walking away from her with the police played repeatedly in her mind and she struggled with the idea of Edward potentially being so close in the boathouse—doubting if anyone would actually believe her theory.

She knew it wasn’t logical but she took the chair from the vanity and braced it under the knob of the stateroom door—it just made her feel safe. She avoided the bath and just wanted to clean the day off of her and took a quick shower. Esther had left her every high-end product she could imagine and Charlotte let herself indulge in the moisturizer since she had forgotten to even think about taking such care of herself over the last several days. It felt soothing as she rubbed the lotion into her skin. Looking at her reflection in the mirrored bathroom walls, Charlotte could see that her wounds from the bike accident were healing and her bruises were no longer painful, they just looked it.

She opened the wardrobe and found a few linen outfits as well as a nightgown, still with its tags. The silk of the simple white sleeveless gown was the most sumptuous she’d ever touched and she felt guilty when she cut off the tags, not letting herself look at the price for if she did, she knew there would be no way she’d wear it. She blushed at the feeling of the white silk caressing her body. She rarely wore things that reminded her that she in fact was a woman and the feeling of the silk on her skin made her ache for Sidney’s touch.

Charlotte collapsed into the bed; the sheets softer than any she’d ever known. She pulled the comforter over her shoulders and, while she knew it wasn’t rational, she shut her eyes and tried to send every loving thought she could to Sidney as well as a wish that he’d contact her soon.

*****

Sidney navigated the marina and swam slower than he planned in order to avoid attention. He didn’t anticipate the number of people that would be out on their boats or on the docks that night, and how many lights would be focused on the water. He finally found Babington’s yacht and climbed onto the dive deck. Within seconds he had a gun pointed at him and all he could think to do was raise his hands and repeat his name. The guard, holstered his weapon, recognizing Sidney, and after radioing Babington, offered him a towel and a safe place to quickly change out of his wetsuit and into the shorts and t-shirt he had in his dry bag.

Sidney followed the guard to Babington’s office where he was unceremoniously greeted. “Well, you look like shit,” Babington said. He was uncharacteristically dressed in a robe and looked like he had been rudely interrupted by Sidney’s arrival.

“What’s with the guns?” Sidney asked, astonished.

“They are security, Sidney—they always have them. I take it you found yourself at the end of one?” Babington said, apologetically. “I’m sorry—I have them on high alert with everything going on.”

While Sidney understood Babington’s need for security given his wealth and family connections, and he desperately appreciated everything he was doing to keep Charlotte safe, he didn’t like guns and was stunned by the experience. He forced himself to shake it off and focus on what was important. “Thank you for everything. I don’t know how I’ll ever repay you.”

Babington gave Sidney an understanding look. “Sidney, I think I still owe you quite a few, although this one might count as double,” he grinned.

“How is she?” Sidney asked. 

“Don’t waste your time asking me. Go to her—I think that may have been the best advice you ever gave me years ago,” Babington said, looking at his wedding band.

“Where?” Sidney asked, suddenly feeling like his heart might stop if he didn’t find Charlotte within the next minute.

“Back stateroom,” Babington said and Sidney quickly departed.

*****

Sidney paused outside of Charlotte’s room, listening for any sounds. He gently tried the door and it wouldn’t budge. It wasn’t locked, he could turn the knob, but there was something against it and he pushed to get in, yet nothing. He knocked lightly, softly calling her name.

Charlotte quickly awoke to the sound of her name. Full of hope she sat up and looked around the empty room. “It was just a dream,” she thought to herself as the hope painfully dissipated. Now wide awake, she decided to go to the galley for some tea and removed the chair from the door, opening it as Sidney was about to again knock.

Sidney unexpectedly found himself speechless as he looked upon her. Charlotte’s eyes radiated what could only be described as hope and her chestnut locks were tousled and gently brushed her supple shoulders—her skin looking softer than the white silk that adoringly draped the curves of her body.

She thought she was still dreaming until Sidney stepped forward and pulled her into his arms. She collapsed into him, lacing her arms firmly around his back, intentionally holding him tight, fearing that if she let go, he’d disappear. She nuzzled her head to his neck—closing any space between them.

The feeling of her arms pulling him to her warm body was the safety and relief Sidney desired all day. He knew there was so much to talk over, but he didn’t want any of that to get between them right now. He just wanted to comfort her and be comforted by her.

Charlotte lifted her head to look at him, her lips beginning to form her questions. Sidney shook his head gently as his fingers covered her lips in a hush. The calm he felt in her arms had turned to intense longing and he surveyed her lips as if they were some new, undiscovered territory, noticing the perfection of each crease and curve that he yearned to explore.

Charlotte watched his eyes as they studied her mouth and she silently uttered, “I love you,” then softly brought her lips to his, holding them still on his for a moment before allowing herself to taste his lips, his tongue, then savor the protective sensation of his breath lovingly connected with hers. The feeling of the silk along her body as his hands firmly caressed her back, her hips, her breasts, was exquisite and her pulse began to race as if they were discovering each other for the first time.

Sidney broke from her lips, mapping his territory with hot kisses across her cheek and down her neck to her soft shoulders, sliding off one strap of her gown so he could lay claim to all of her skin. He traced his hands up her spine, placing them on her shoulders and drawing her back as he hungrily gifted wet kisses across her collar bone, down her chest to the soft skin between her breasts.

Charlotte held tight to his sinewy sides as Sidney leaned her further back. He readily kissed her full breasts through the silk, feeling her nipples respond under her gown, her soft moans fueling his passion. He raised her up, bringing her lips back to his, kissing her with an intensity she’d never felt—the force of his tongue breathtaking.

Charlotte’s hands found the hem of his shirt and eagerly lifted it off with his help in one quick motion then drew him back to her, kissing his neck and placing famished yet loving bites across his throat. Her hands grasped his muscular hips and pulled him to her, feeling the strength of his need pressing against her—her own body more than ready to respond.

The sensations of her silk-enrobed body on his bare skin, her hands electric on his hips, her warm lips on his neck—were overwhelming and he needed to feel all of her, now. His hands quickly traveled from her breasts to her hips, his fingers pulling up her gown until he could grasp her thighs unconstrained and pull her up to him, relishing the strength of her smooth legs wrapping around him tightly. He found her lips again and claimed them with a passion that bordered on ownership.

Charlotte met his claim with her own—her hands staking every inch of his chest, arms, neck and back as hers alone and if she could have reached other parts of him at that moment, she would have taken possession of every inch of him.

In two long strides, Sidney held her at the side of the bed, breaking their kiss only to breathe—his hands taking full custody of her thighs.

“Door,” she whispered breathlessly as she reluctantly unwound her legs and dropped her feet to the floor. She kept his gaze as he backed his way to close the stateroom door and then lowered the other strap of her gown, letting it pool to the floor.

He briefly paused, taking every inch of her in, then removed his shorts as she laid herself on the bed. He looked down at her, amazed that she was real—needing desperately to be one with her.

Charlotte felt the same need and reached for him, eagerly pulling him down to her and wrapping her legs around him. Their eyes locked and both fully understood the immediate need for the other, Sidney entered her with powerful thrusts that her hips readily met and it wasn’t until they both climaxed that they broke their intense gaze.

They laid side by side, regaining their breath, their hands clasped between them. They had reclaimed each other with a force that surprised them both. Over the next two hours they took their time slowly caressing and caring for each other, saying nothing aloud, yet every touch, stroke, thrust, and look expressed the tender love they shared, and the gratitude they had for each other and this precious time they had together.

It was long after midnight when they found themselves laying across from each other, their fingers intertwined, their eyes locked, both realizing it was time to talk.


	24. Chapter 24

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading this short chapter and for being so kind at my first stab at writing a mystery. Learning a lot. Almost done. 😊

“I’m going to talk to Stringer tomorrow,” Charlotte said definitively—not the decision Sidney wanted to hear. It had been a long, meandering conversation to get to this point and they were now sitting on the floor—Charlotte in her silk gown, Sidney in his shorts—eating from a plate of fruit and cheese Charlotte snagged from the galley. “I know you love me and are just trying to protect me—and I love you for it,” she said, leaning forward and kissing him gently on his cheek. No one in her life had ever cared for her like Sidney and while she was so appreciative, she knew she had to follow her own mind on this. “And we can’t put Babington and Esther in the middle of this—no matter how much they seem strangely ready and willing for it,” she smiled.

Sorting through the confusion of the last twenty-four hours brought a combination of relief, frustration and fear to both Sidney and Charlotte. Their honesty about thinking the other potentially guilty—even just for a moment—brought about an uncomfortable silence considering the intense intimacy and trust they had just shared. That silence was eventually broken by stress relieving exasperating laughs at the fact that their first response was to protect each other—and that they were willing to break the law to do so—wondering if that actually said good things about them as a couple.

“You stay and tell Babington. I’ll head out around dawn and arrange for Susan to fly down to meet us later this morning and we’ll all go together,” Sidney said, knowing the time to convince her otherwise was over.

Charlotte wanted to trust Stringer and felt the longer she hid the guiltier she looked. He had tried to dissuade her from turning herself in based on all the unanswered questions he had. Sidney was having his doubts about the department—especially considering that they had the contradicting facts of the dress being in evidence and proof that someone entered Charlotte’s apartment. He was also doubtful because it seemed that Edward had been getting away with his despicable actions for quite some time without repercussions in any port. And now with Charlotte’s suspicions about Edward hiding in the boathouse, neither were really agreed on who to trust or where to turn, but Charlotte was adamant that they needed to have some direction and Stringer was it.

“We have a big day ahead,” Charlotte said, standing. “Let’s try to get a few hours of sleep.”

Sidney watched her climb into bed, amazed at her strength. When he explained Stringer’s theories and she learned the circumstantial evidence against her, she was clearly shaken. She had tried hard to make light of being a suspect saying she’d add it as a hobby to her CV. He knew this was devastating to her and that she just wanted this all to be over—she was desperate to get back to her research and he hated that Sanditon had given her so much sorrow. He vowed that he would find a way to return her to the work she loved and to somehow make Sanditon a place she loved as well.

He laid in the bed and pulled her close, kissing her softly on her forehead before falling asleep.

Charlotte could hear Sidney’s breath fall into a rested pace as more questions raced through her head. She kept wondering about Clara’s behavior at Babington’s party when she told her about Eliza and her friends, as well as Clara’s discussion with Stringer. Charlotte couldn’t understand why Clara would say what she did. What did she have to gain?

*****

Stringer slept maybe four hours total and he was up again, trying to make sense of things. He had to push everything related to Diana out of his head. Her call the night before had a touch of viciousness on both sides and he was ashamed about how he behaved. She had every right to be angry with him and over the last day he did treat her more like a witness than a girlfriend. He was much too tired when they talked and let his temper take over, telling her that she was just like every other rich person in town, always expecting special treatment. He didn’t mean it of course, but he said it nonetheless. He knew she was taking the late train back tonight—maybe he could sort things out with her then.

He needed to focus—in addition to Eliza’s murder, he also had a few new reports to sort through about Edward. He actually wondered if Eliza’s death had spurred the activity because finally some people had come forward in other towns and he hoped he might be able to put together a case against Edward for his assaults—that is if he could find him.

He thought about that night he first met Charlotte in the hospital. It was hard for him to think she could have killed Eliza, but with everything Clara had said about her erratic behavior, her angry voicemails on his own phone, no alibi and now the fact that she was evading the police—it was hard to see her as anything but a key suspect. It also didn’t help that his superiors in London wanted him to solve this upper-crust murder, fast. Stringer often got side looks for being a young detective and had to acknowledge that he had some insecurities there. He closed his eyes for a moment—remembering that his oath was to get to the truth, not to please his superiors.

He was confident Sidney knew where Charlotte was and while surveillance reported that Sidney was sleeping on the Fife, Stringer doubted he was really there and decided to take a shower and find out for himself.

*****

Susan was getting frustrated that Sidney wasn’t picking up. Sure, it was well before dawn, but she figured he wouldn’t be sleeping anyway. She didn’t want to sit on this information. On the third try, she decided to leave a message.

“Hey, I’ve tried you a few times—call me when you get this. You know me, I never leave details on voicemail but I will say that person you asked me to look into has quite an interesting history—I’d keep away from her.”

*****

Daylight would soon break and Sidney knew he needed to leave shortly to return to the Fife to keep up appearances with the police and protect Charlotte’s location until he could arrange things with Susan. They’d only been asleep a few hours and he hated waking her. He was just about to lay a soft kiss to stir her when she jolted up, quickly kissed him and turned on the tablet Esther had lent her after Babington told her not to use her own.

She scrolled through Facebook, finally finding what she was looking for.

“I kept assuming it was Edward in my apartment,” she said, expanding the group shot from a party earlier in the summer. “She loved that dress and she bought a similar version after she first saw mine. I never really examined the one on the bed closely enough. Mine had spaghetti straps, hers did not,” she said, handing Sidney the tablet with a picture of Clara in her ocean blue dress.


	25. Chapter 25

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Thank you so much for sticking with my little story and for being so generous with your encouragement. I hope you are having a good time! I know I haven't posted as quickly as I normally do--I'd like to say I'm in the cove with Sidney but no--just work. Ending within the next couple chapters :)
> 
> I hope you have a great day!

“I’ll leave now,” Susan said, gathering up her briefcase. “I’d like to talk with Charlotte when I get there. Is there a good place we can meet before heading to the station?”

“I’ll figure something out and text you,” Sidney replied, as he sat on the deck of the Fife watching the early morning sun start to lighten the dark shadows of the harbor. He silently cursed the sun and how it so quickly ended his night with Charlotte.

“Did you get my message about Clara?” she asked, as she started walking toward the door.

“No, I didn’t check—just called you straight away,” he said, rubbing his eyes. The last two nights of little sleep combined with the hard swim to the Fife that failed to revive him were taking their toll.

“What we know for sure is that she left her last job under strange circumstances that no one is talking about and she’s carrying excessive debt. But that’s not what has me concerned. Now, while the files on this are sealed, it looks like she was institutionalized at Bedlam Psychiatric Hospital. Only serious, violent cases go there, Sidney,” she warned. “I’ve had the team on this since you phoned yesterday and they’re heading out there this morning to see if anyone might be willing to talk. Hopefully I’ll have more information by the time we meet.”

“Thank you, Susan,” he said, quickly ending their conversation as he spotted Stringer approaching the Fife. “I need to go.”

*****

“Buenos días, Carlos,” Charlotte said, relieved he picked up the unknown number of the phone Babington lent her. She couldn’t remember exactly where in the world Carlos was and hoped it was still morning.

“Charlotte! How are you? Where are you?!” the preeminent expert on dolphin mating questioned joyfully. Charlotte shared office space with him when they were both working in the south pacific and he had the privilege of being Clara’s “official scientist” for her fundraising season in Sanditon the year prior.

“I’m in Sanditon with Clara and I was hoping you could help me with a few questions,” she said.

Carlos stammered, “I can try.”

Charlotte could sense his hesitation and started with some easy questions about the town and how he liked living in the apartment she now occupied. When she felt he was less tense, she asked, “what can you tell me about Clara?”

He was quiet. “Look Charlotte, what is this about? I thought we were friends. Why are you asking?” he asked, adding softly, “I really love my wife.”

“No, no,” she said, trying to hide her shock at what she realized was a revelation of infidelity. “I’m sorry—that’s not what I’m calling about. I simply want to know what it was like to work with Clara. There have been some…irregularities…and I’m just trying to understand. To be honest, Carlos, I’m more than a little concerned about her.”

“Charlotte,” his voice full of apprehension, “you have every right to be. I started feeling something was wrong with her, but then I was having problems with my wife and Clara was very aggressively accommodating. When I tried to break things off, she turned angry—terrifying actually. And then the fact that her ‘white whale’ never showed up that season, it made her manic.”

“Eliza Campion?” Charlotte asked, trying to piece it together.

“Yes. She was obsessed with that woman,” he said. “When I told Clara I was worried about her and talked about going to Ocean Funds with my concerns unless she got help, she threatened to tell my wife about us. I didn’t have a choice,” his said, his voice weak.

“I understand, Carlos,” she said—not understanding that weakness. Believing he’d only stay on the line for one more question, she considered getting the information she most dearly needed. “Did you give Clara a key to our apartment?”

After a long pause Charlotte heard him answer, “Yes.” 

*****

Stringer stood silent at the gangway to the Fife—Sidney giving him a tired glance before waving him aboard. They were clearly both exhausted and no matter what anger or frustration they had they were too tired to act upon it.

“I’m surprised to find you here,” Stringer began, taking a seat across from Sidney. “Just tell me where Charlotte is and we can clear this all up.”

Sidney silently looked at Stringer, trying to figure out if he really believed in Charlotte’s guilt or if Stringer was simply acting on the orders of others.

“Think about your loyalties here. What will it say about the Parker family if you keep hiding a woman you’ve known for how long?—and you are breaking the law to do it,” Stringer said, trying any angle to get Sidney to talk, only half believing what he said.

Sidney looked Stringer dead in the eye, “my first loyalty is to Charlotte, as hers is to me.”

Stringer felt the burn of his words considering his treatment of Diana and knew there would be no breaking Sidney. He stood to leave with no progress in the case.

“You know you’re completely wrong about all of this,” Sidney said, giving him a disappointed look. “And your gut knows she didn’t do this.”

Stringer had to keep himself from nodding in agreement. “I’m not anyone’s puppet,” he said defensively. “I’m trying to get to the truth and I need more information and I think she has it.”

To his awe, Sidney respected Stringer’s position. While he had planned to wait for Susan so they could leverage the information to Charlotte’s benefit, he couldn’t hold off.

“In your thorough search, have you looked at the Denham boathouse for Edward?” Sidney asked, with a tone of criticism he didn’t intend, but that his exhaustion revealed. “Hypothetically, of course, I may have just learned last night it’s been abandoned for years. Edward would know about it and it’s not far from here. It’s just up the beach.”

“We looked at all properties in his or Eliza’s name—a boathouse never showed up,” Stringer said as the rumors of Edward having parties there as a teenager began to flood his memories.

“Clearly you didn’t look at properties that he doesn’t own, but that his relations do,” Sidney said. Sidney considered telling Stringer what he learned so far about Clara, but felt he needed to wait to ensure that anything he said didn’t lead back to Susan as she had an interesting way of bending the rules to get the information she needed.

“You should go—and be careful. I don’t know what I’d tell Diana if anything happened to you,” Sidney said, giving Stringer a tired but real smile. Sidney watched as Stringer make his way quickly down the dock, phone in hand, truly hoping he’d be safe. 

*****

Charlotte had never paced before in her life, but now she was and had been doing so for nearly thirty minutes. She was analyzing every second she had spent with Clara trying to think of something that would help her understand Clara’s motivation. She hoped it was just dumb luck that the alarm had been off when Clara entered the apartment—but then started to wonder how many times she had perhaps been there before she even had the alarm.

Carlos’s words about Clara’s long-standing fascination with Eliza kept ringing in Charlotte’s ears. She had thought Clara’s interest was limited to getting the ‘big donation’ that would get her a substantial bonus—but now it seemed to be so much more. Clara had never really shared much about her background and always changed the subject when Charlotte tried to share anything about her childhood or ask Clara about hers. 

Charlotte was determined to find out more and figured she had two of the best people on deck to help her.

*****

Stringer’s heart was pounding but his training taught him not to give it attention. What his training didn’t teach him though was how to get the thoughts out of head about his fight with Diana. He needed Diana to know how sorry he was and how much he loved her. Sidney’s words about Charlotte being his first loyalty were still fresh in his ears and he was ashamed that although he felt the same about Diana, he hadn’t expressed it in such a devoted way as Sidney had for Charlotte.

Sanditon didn’t have a large police force, but it did have a few well-trained officers who had military experience and Stringer recruited each one of them to investigate the boathouse with him. It was only the second time he had donned a bullet-proof vest in Sanditon—the first was really more to satisfy procedure than a real threat. If Edward were there, Stringer felt the threat was real.

How a man with every advantage in life could turn into someone with no conscience or morals was more than disturbing and Stringer was convinced that even though he had no proof, Edward was likely involved in more than the horrible acts he was accused of—he was a murderer.

Stringer and the officers left their vehicles far from the boathouse and approached the structure quietly on foot. The boathouse was clearly decrepit but the car hidden in a nearby overgrowth indicated it was not abandoned. The team spread out, the officers trying to ascertain the best points of entry. Stringer approached the side door as it creaked open. He raised his weapon to a disheveled Clara, who upon seeing Stringer, feel to her knees and began to sob. “Please, please help me,” she said in just a whisper as the tears ran down her cheeks.

Stringer approached her cautiously and took her arm, leading her away from the door.

“He has a gun,” she uttered, her voice weak. “He kidnapped me, please help.”

Another officer quickly led Clara away as Stringer and his team silently made their way through the door. In the concealed boat slip, Stringer spied a cigarette boat, which he figured was the same that most likely had terrorized Charlotte and Sidney. Stringer’s team navigated their way through the structure to find Edward asleep on a mattress on the floor. Stringer gave a sign to the others to hold back as he approached—a scream from outside the boathouse bolted Edward awake and he sat up quickly.

“Hands up now!” Stringer shouted, pointing his weapon at Edward.

Edward was clearly surprised and his hand quickly disappeared under the sheets and Stringer yelled at him to show his hands. When Edward didn’t comply after another warning, Stringer shot, the bullet throwing Edward back down to the bed.

Stringer ran to Edward, feeling for a pulse shouting the entire time for someone to call the paramedics.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy cow! I forgot to say that if there are typos I'm sorry!! I'm having some cut/paste computer issues.


	26. Chapter 26

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! I know I've said it before--I really appreciate you sticking with me and all the support :)

Esther clicked away on her laptop as Babington poured Charlotte another cup of coffee. “She’s really good at this,” he said, looking proudly at his wife. He glanced back at Charlotte, lowing his voice, “she’s actually really good at anything she tries—it’s maddening.”

Esther shot them both a quick smile and kept looking for information about Clara. She had already found out all Susan had uncovered except for the hospital and was now searching for information about Clara’s parents. “This is interesting,” she said, drawing Babington and Charlotte to look at her screen. “I was able to locate her mother’s death certificate,” she said, her eyes becoming soft. “She must have died when Clara was very young—maybe ten or eleven.” Esther remembered her own mother’s death a year earlier and was quiet for a moment. Babington understood where her mind had gone and put his arm around her shoulders, placing a soft kiss on her cheek.

Esther refocused and started working to locate where Clara went next but found something she didn’t expect. “I just came across a lawsuit filed by Clara’s mother a few months after Clara’s birth—it looks like it was thrown out of court.” A few moments later Esther discovered more. “It’s a paternity suit…” she said, pausing as she looked at Charlotte. “It claims Clara’s father is Stone Campion—Eliza’s father.”

*****

Stringer watched as the paramedics rushed Edward into the ambulance then quickly made their way down the bumpy, unpaved road. “Damn it,” he said to himself. “I need him alive.” Stringer was always able to deescalate situations and had never shot anyone before. He was trying to gain control but could feel his hands shake even though he gripped them in fists.

“We haven’t located a gun yet,” the officer said, pulling Stringer from his thoughts. “It looks like he was reaching for his shorts, not a gun,” the officer said, returning to the scene.

Stringer closed his eyes and replayed the moments he approached the boathouse to the shooting again and again. He needed to talk with Clara before she was taken to the hospital so they could evaluate her. He needed to know why the hell she screamed. He waved the officer attending Clara to him. “What happened?” he asked.

“I was taking her to the car and for everything she’s been through, she seemed okay and focused on getting to safety. Then she just suddenly stopped, looked back, and let out these ear-piercing shrieks,” the officer explained. “I couldn’t control her. And then she stopped screaming and followed me to the car.”

Stringer nodded and sent the officer away as he approached a tear-stained Clara seated in the back of the police car, the door open. “We’re going to have someone take you to the hospital in a moment, I just need to ask a few questions,” Stringer said. “Can you tell me what happened?” he asked, in his most soothing voice.

Clara tried to steady herself and looked at Stringer with glassy eyes. “I’ll try,” she said breathlessly. Clara fixed her gaze on her hands as she repeatedly smoothed her dress against her thighs. “I was heading to my car last night and all of a sudden Edward grabbed me and put a gun to my back. He forced me into the trunk of my car and drove me here and then, and then…” she put her hands to her face. “And then, you know, he forced me. He finally fell asleep and I was able to break free from his grasp—that’s when I saw you,” she said, the tears falling fast from her eyes.

“Thank you,” Stringer said softly. “Can you tell me what happened when the officer was taking you to safety?”

She looked at him and stammered, “I don’t know what you mean.”

“You screamed,” Stringer said, studying her body language as she sat up a bit straighter.

“If I did, I must have been remembering all of the horrible things he did to me,” she said, wiping her eyes.

“Let’s get you to the hospital,” he smiled with understanding as he started to close the car door.

“Do you think he’ll survive?” she asked.

Stringer looked at her, evaluating the question. “It’s not likely,” he said as he closed the door and nodded to the officer. “Get her to the hospital, but don’t let her out of your sight—she is not free to go.”

As the police car pulled away, Stringer called over another officer. “Print this entire car, including the trunk,” he instructed, pointing to Clara’s sedan. “Tell me exactly where Clara and Edward were seated and put a rush on it.”

*****

Sidney waited at the helipad for Susan to arrive. He had traveled a circuitous route and felt he had effectively evaded his tail. The precious hour of sleep that he allowed himself after Stringer’s visit had done the trick and he was feeling a bit more alive. His plan was to take Susan to Babington’s so she could talk with Charlotte and then leave from there for the station.

He could see Susan’s helicopter in the distance and was hoping they were doing the right thing. If he could he’d sail away with Charlotte—but he knew that was not realistic and a life on the run wasn’t the life she deserved. She already had all of him—body, heart, and soul—and he knew he would do anything to make her happy. He was scared that if she turned herself in, he wouldn’t have the chance.

Susan hopped out of the helicopter before the blades stopped rotating and quickly ran to Sidney’s Jeep. “Are you kidding me with this,” she asked in disbelief. “What are you, sixteen? Get a real car,” she chastised as she buckled her seatbelt. With a flip of her hand, Susan didn’t give Sidney a chance to respond. “Okay, I have news—and it’s good, I mean, it’s not good, but it’s good for us,” she said bracing herself as Sidney took a turn a bit too fast.

She gave him a dirty look and continued. “By greasing a few palms at Bedlam we were able to get the details on Clara. She was institutionalized at sixteen because she murdered her uncle who had been her guardian since she was ten. And get this, she did it by hitting him on the back of the head with a crowbar,” she said, bracing herself again as Sidney increased his speed on the ocean-side road.

“Why? Why did she do it?” he asked, briefly taking his eyes off the road which earned him another dirty look from Susan who directed him to look forward.

“It sounds like her uncle abused her and the nurse we talked with said she felt Clara had psychopathic tendencies. Because she was minor when the crime occurred and because the murder was in response to abuse, she was released at eighteen—legally they couldn’t keep her any longer,” she said, relieved as they approached the harbor parking lot. “There is definitely more here and we’ll continue to work through it—but I think she’s your best suspect, we just need a motive.”

*****

After giving his report about the shooting to his superiors, Stringer got in his car to head to the hospital to check on Edward’s status and ensure Clara remained in custody. The team had yet to find a gun and he couldn’t get the feeling out of his head that Clara purposely wanted him to shoot Edward. He also had the team looking for any evidence of Eliza’s murder. He knew the tides and currents well enough and if Edward had killed Eliza and tossed her in the waters near the boathouse, she would have ended up about where they found her on the beach.

Stringer knew he owed Sidney a call—after all, it was his, or most likely Charlotte’s, information that had led to Edward’s capture and maybe that knowledge would encourage Charlotte to talk with him.

*****

Babington greeted Susan and Sidney at the end of the gangway and escorted them on board to his office where Charlotte and Esther awaited them. Even though it had only been hours since they last saw each other, to both Sidney and Charlotte it felt like days and they each shared the same relief to be together again. Sidney quickly found his way to her, they locked eyes and then tenderly hugged for only a brief moment, knowing the urgency of the meeting and all the eyes upon them.

Susan had never seen this side of Sidney and was confident she’d like Charlotte, if only for what she brought out in him.

After short introductions, and Charlotte’s insistence that Esther and Babington stay for their conversation, they began to share information. As the puzzle pieces began to fall into place—there was still the question on Clara’s motive with the dress as well as her relationship with Eliza. Did Eliza know they were possibly sisters? Was Clara involved in her murder?

Their conversation went silent as Sidney’s phone rang. Seeing Stringer’s name appear, he gave them a sign to remain quiet as he put him on speaker.

“Stringer, did you find Edward?” Sidney asked.

“Yes, we’ve got him,” Stringer said, sensing he was on speaker and expecting Charlotte to be listening. “Charlotte, I need to talk to you and I need you to meet me now.”

Susan motioned Charlotte not to talk and prompted Sidney to respond.

“What’s happened, Stringer?” Sidney asked.

Stringer still directed his conversation to Charlotte. “Look Charlotte, Clara was with Edward and she is claiming she was kidnapped. There was a shooting—I shot him. I need you to tell me everything you know about her.”

Susan again signaled Charlotte not to respond, but she didn’t comply. “Where do you want me to meet you,” Charlotte asked.

“Come to the hospital and call me when you get there – I’ll make sure that everyone knows to leave you alone, I just want to talk,” he said.

“I’ll be there in twenty minutes,” she said, taking the phone from Sidney and hanging it up. “Let’s go,” she motioned to Susan and Sidney. “It’s time to get to the bottom of all of this.”


	27. Chapter 27

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi – So we’ve reached the final chapter! Thanks so much for sticking with me and for being so wonderfully encouraging! Your thoughts and your lovely responses to this and other stories have fueled me more than you know during this pandemic. Please see the end for some of the reasoning behind a few things. Again, thanks for your great support (um, and patience) as I tried out my first mystery! 😊

“He’ll most likely have limited, if any use of his left arm and shoulder for the rest of his life, but no major organs were hit—he’ll live,” Dr. Fuchs told Stringer, who was relieved. Stringer not only wanted to see Edward fully prosecuted for his crimes, but he also had no desire to take a life, no matter how detestable it was.

“When can I talk with him—it’s urgent,” Stringer asked, clearly eager to get Edward’s side of the story with Clara.

“You can wait and we’ll contact you when he wakes and see how he is,” Dr. Fuchs responded. He had taken an oath to do no harm, but many assault victims had passed through his emergency room doors over the years and even though he didn’t like it, he had to remind himself that Edward was first and foremost his patient and his health was paramount.

Stringer nodded. “Can you refrain from telling him about his injuries or prognosis until I speak with him—I’ll need him to believe something that’s not exactly true,” he said.

Dr. Fuchs didn’t like the request but gave him a hesitant nod.

“And what of Clara?” he asked quietly. “Are there any signs of an assault?”

“No, but that doesn’t mean it didn’t happen,” Dr. Fuchs said. “We’re running blood tests now to see about any drugs, but I’m not seeing any signs of that.”

“Has she said anything?” Stringer asked.

“All she asks is how much longer—she clearly wants to leave,” he said.

“We need to keep her here as long as possible—until we can get Edward’s side of things,” Stringer instructed, eager for Charlotte to get there to tell him why Clara would accuse her of killing Eliza. “Keep running as many tests as you need to in order to keep her here.”

*****

“Charlotte wait,” Sidney said as he took her arm, signaling to Susan to go ahead to Stringer, who was waiting for them outside the hospital entrance, and to give them a moment.

Sidney gently clasped her hands, his eyes focused on nothing but hers. “Are you ready for this?” he asked, searching for confirmation. “If you’ve changed your mind, we can leave right now—you know Esther is ready to create a new identity for you if it comes to that,” he said.

Charlotte smiled, deeply grateful for his care. “I don’t want it to come to that. I’m ready to get this behind us so we can start thinking about our future,” she said.

“I am too,” he smiled, happy to hear her think about ‘their’ future as he laid a gentle kiss on her lips. Together they walked toward Stringer and Susan, following him into the hospital.

*****

After Susan provided some terse words to Stringer about Charlotte’s innocence, the benefit of her cooperation today and the expectation of a cleared record, they offered a dense unwinding of all they had learned about Clara—from the murder, Clara’s stint at Bedlam and the expectation that she may be Eliza’s sister to Charlotte’s interactions with her as well as their suspicions of the dress.

Stringer took it all in and started plotting his questions for both Edward and Clara in his head. He knew he couldn’t keep Clara at the hospital for much longer. The officer guarding Clara had texted Stringer twice in the last hour reporting of her increasing desire to leave. Stringer had his suspicions and needed Edward to wake up before Clara made her escape.

Stringer got his wish as Dr. Fuchs arrived with the news about Edward awaking. As he made his way to Edward’s room, Stringer got the call from the print lab. Hanging up before entering the room, Stringer had the information he needed to at least try to get a confession.

Edward pulled at the handcuff on his wrist that secured him to the bed. “What is the meaning of this?” Edward asked weakly. 

Stringer knew where to start. “We are holding you on suspicion of murder,” he said, planting himself at the foot of Edward’s bed. “Although we probably don’t need the handcuffs, as you don’t really have long to live.” He read Edward his rights as he deftly placed a recording device on an adjacent tray.

“What?” Edward uttered, clearly shocked.

“You don’t have long and it’s probably a good time to come clean with man and your maker, so to speak,” Stringer advised, hoping the threat of impending death may spur him to speak. “Let’s start with the murder.”

“Murder? Who?” Edward asked, clearly shaken by the news of his health. 

“Eliza Campion,” he said. Stringer knew he was taking a big risk without any evidence of murder but had a theory and wagered that he could manipulate Edward into telling the truth.

“Absurd,” Edward said, turning his head to the window.

“Come now Edward, we have the testimony of the woman you kidnapped against you—there is no way out of this,” Stringer bluffed.

“What are you talking about? What woman?” Edward asked, getting angry and then calming as heard the sound of his heart rate ticking up digit by digit on the monitor.

“Clara Brereton, the woman we rescued this morning—the reason you were shot,” Stringer said, walking closer to the side of Edward’s bed.

Edward started to breathe heavily, the pieces falling into place in his head and he could see what Clara was attempting to do. He weighed his options and knew it would be best to keep quiet—that is if he were healthy. But he was dying and he figured he wasn’t going to let her get off scot-free. “Clara killed Eliza,” he said, looking Stringer dead in the eye.

“Come now Edward, why should I believe you? You kidnapped and assaulted Clara just like you assaulted so many others,” Stringer said, remaining calm as his plan was coming together.

“That bitch. I never kidnaped Clara—she was always showing up uninvited and believe me, she was always willing,” he said almost spitting.

“Tell me about the murder,” Stringer said, trying to get Edward to focus.

“The night of the regatta Clara told Eliza that she was her half-sister and Eliza would have none of it. She told Clara to leave and canceled some big donation she said she’d make. I found them both at the boathouse later that night—Eliza dead and Clara with a crowbar standing over her. I guess Eliza didn’t realize how much they really had in common as sisters,” he said, his voice rough. “I told Eliza that keeping Clara around was trouble, but she believed Clara could somehow give her insights into Sidney’s new girlfriend—stupid move. Why couldn’t she just forget about him?” Edward asked, more to himself than to Stringer. “Maybe she’d still be alive.”

“So you’re trying to tell me that Clara killed Eliza, and what, you helped her dispose of the body—it makes no sense, why would you help her? Wasn’t Eliza your lover?” Stringer said, thinking he may have led Edward too far.

“Eliza has no living relatives and no will. As her only living relative, Clara’s claim to her estate could be quite a windfall. Clara did her research—I think the crowbar was plan ‘b’ if Eliza rejected her,” he said, his voice full of what sounded like regret. He let out a shallow laugh as he looked at his wounds, “I thought Clara would be an easy mark and she’d share the estate. Guess I underestimated her.”

Stringer nodded and turned to leave. “One more question—why did Clara go to Charlotte’s apartment the other day making it look as if it were you?”

“Oh Charlotte—I wish I never laid eyes on that woman,” he grimaced. “Clara hates Charlotte—something about not being able to control her—sounded just like Eliza when she talked about her. Clara had the bright idea to try to frame Charlotte—make her seem crazy—get you off Clara’s scent. I think Clara underestimated Charlotte’s friends,” he said sneering at Stringer. “If you search the Ocean Funds boat, I’m sure that’s where Clara planted the crowbar so you’d have proof on Charlotte,” he said, resigned to his fate and determined to take Clara down with him.

Stringer looked at Edward, “you better rest up Edward, you have a long life ahead and I have a long list of charges against you and I intend to make you pay for each and every one of them.”

Edward looked confused and then realized he’d been played—Eliza always told him he was too easily led.

Stringer picked up the recorder and left the room, nodding at the officer to keep guard.

“You just make sure Clara pays,” Edward shouted, his voice resonating throughout the hallway.

Once cleared from sight, Stringer closed his eyes and exhaled deeply. After all Charlotte, Susan, and Sidney shared about Clara, he was confident that Clara had lied from the start. All he knew for sure though when entering that room was what he learned from the print lab. The only prints in the car were Clara’s—none were Edward’s and none of Clara’s were in the truck.

He concluded that Clara was surprised at the boathouse and Stringer was almost impressed by her quick thinking to claim to be kidnapped and that Edward had a gun. A few inches to the right and Edward would be dead—luckily that didn’t happen. Stringer collected himself, called for two officers to retrieve the crowbar from the Ocean Funds boat then went to Clara’s room to make the arrest.

*****

Susan, Sidney nor Charlotte tried to make conversation in the sparse hospital conference room as they eagerly anticipated Stringer’s return. Sidney and Charlotte would occasionally share glances of encouragement with each other, but Charlotte kept her eyes primarily on the door. The waiting was becoming too much and Charlotte excused herself to the ladies’ room--looking to splash some cold water on her face. 

Charlotte looked in the mirror—so much had happened in such a short time and she was trying to contain her hope that this could soon all be over. She had no idea what the future would hold, but she knew that she wanted Sidney to be part of it. They were thrown together with such intensity, she wondered what a ‘normal’ life would look like together. She smiled thinking of doing simple chores like laundry or grocery shopping together and let her mind travel back to the proposal Esther made her days earlier about a research facility in Sanditon, wondering if that could be a real option. Not so long ago she felt completely alone and now, she had Sidney and caring friends—and she was truly grateful.

Charlotte turned on the sink and splashed water on her face as she heard the bathroom stall door open. With her head bent toward the sink, she could see legs donned in nurses’ scrubs beside her. The woman handed her a paper towel and Charlotte dried her face. When Charlotte looked to thank her, she gasped when she saw Clara.

*****

“Why is it taking so long,” Sidney asked, putting his phone down and giving Susan a look as he walked to the window. He had tried to distract himself with emails but just wanted to know what Edward was saying. Sidney knew he had allowed himself to have too much hope that this would soon all be over and that he and Charlotte could focus on their future instead of living under Eliza’s shadow and all the darkness she and her ‘friends’ supplied.

In the short time they were silent in the conference room he let himself think about everything from building a home for he and Charlotte near the cove to finally starting the research facility Babington and Esther had proposed to him months ago. Now that they had Charlotte in their lives, it seemed like the perfect time to undertake that project and set Sanditon on a path for good. Of course, he hadn’t talked with Charlotte about any of this and so hoped that she would consider the options.

“Don’t worry—I have confidence that this will work out. Isn’t that what you pay me for?” Susan asked, smiling.

They were interrupted as Stringer stormed into the room with an officer. “Stay here—Clara has gone missing,” he said. Sidney ignored the order and ran to find Charlotte.

*****

Charlotte stepped back from Clara as ideas ran through her head of what to say—all she needed to do was to get to the door and Clara was directly in her path.

“Clara, I’m so sorry, I heard what happened. I was just on my way to see you. Why don’t we go back to your room,” Charlotte said, trying to motion her to the door.

“I’m sure you were—what a happy coincidence that we found each other then,” Clara smiled slyly, standing solid. “I had no intention of ever seeing you again, I was just trying to leave,” she said, taking a step toward Charlotte. “I really underestimated you little Charlotte. At the beginning, you were just like a little pebble in my shoe. You didn’t do what I wanted. I couldn’t even get you to play nice with the donors I needed you to. You’ve proven to be very frustrating indeed,” she said.

Even though she was seething, Charlotte just looked calmly at Clara, trying not to excite her. She had wanted to yell at her, tell her that crazy and cruelty definitely ran in the Campion family but thought it might not be the best idea to rile up someone who had served a stint at Bedlam.

“I had plans for this summer—very specific plans and you couldn’t help yourself could you—you just had to mess them up. It’s amazing how you’ve ingratiated yourself with the Parkers and the Babingtons, hell, even Detective Stringer—how do you do that?” she asked, not really looking for an answer. “I’ve never been able to weave my way into people’s lives like you have—make them love you. Guess I’m just like my sister,” she laughed.

Clara could feel the walls closing in—she was no fool and knew they were on to her and needed to escape. The nurses had already provided the scrubs when they asked for her clothing for evidence and she easily distracted the guard by calling the front desk to request to speak to him, claiming to be from the station. She had just temporarily ducked into the washroom to avoid the guard’s return—Charlotte was a bonus.

“I need to leave now Clara, I have people waiting,” Charlotte said as she moved toward the door.

Clara grabbed her wrist and painfully twisted it. “Of course you do my dear,” she said, violently pushing Charlotte into the sinks. “Let’s make them wait. You know, Eliza was so angry about you and your boyfriend, I’m sure she would have welcomed me into her family if you hadn’t been around antagonizing her.”

Charlotte righted herself and was simply done. Thanks to her mother teaching her how to throw a right hook, she knew how to fight and how to defend herself—especially when she wasn’t drugged—and she was ready to end this. Sidney barging through the door was just the distraction she needed and she swiftly laid Clara out with a closed-fist blow to her cheek.

As the officers rushed to secure Clara, Sidney ran to Charlotte, looked her up and down to ensure she was safe and quickly led her to the hallway where he examined her now swelling hand. “When Stringer charged in and said Clara was gone, I knew I needed to find you,” he said, placing his hand to her cheek.

“You’re always coming to my rescue, aren’t you,” she smiled, then kissed his hand in thanks. 

“From the looks of it, I think you had this one handled,” he said, his smile turning to one of admiration. “And to be very clear,” he gently brought her hands to his heart, “it’s you who has rescued me.”

*****

_Two months later_

“Here you go,” Sidney handed Charlotte a glass of merlot as he sat beside her on the deck of the Fife, pulling her to him as they watched the sunset over the cove.

She leaned back into him and adjusted the wool blanket covering their legs, enjoying the simple pleasure of being with him in this most beautiful place. The weeks following Eliza’s death had been stressful with learning all the details of Edward’s other crimes, giving testimonies to ensure both Edward and Clara were convicted, sorting out the shares, setting up the plans for Sanditon and finally Charlotte’s resignation from Ocean Funds based on the fact that they had ignored the rumors of Clara’s questionable behavior for years because of her ability to raise money. This was the first time they were able to take out the Fife and enjoy the cove for a few days and really be alone together.

“Is it all set?” she asked. “Is Tom okay?”

Sidney pulled her closer. “Yes—actually he’s good and he’s canceled all of the slip contracts for next season as we renovate the resort and get started on the research facility,” he said. “Babington being involved makes him feel a lot better. He understands it will be a hit to profits in the short term, but it’s the right thing to do and I think he’s excited about the idea of making a real impact for good. He keeps on talking about being an eco-role model for the kids and is adding solar panels to his house.”

“And Diana, did you talk with her?” she asked.

Sidney smirked. “It’s been hard to get a hold of her or Stringer for that matter. It appears that living together is suiting them both very well—just like us,” he said, leaning over to lay a gentle kiss on Charlotte’s cheek.

Charlotte sipped her wine, “and she’s good with her new role?”

“She will be,” he said. “She’s looking forward to learning and in taking more of a fiduciary role—it will be good for her and Tom to work together—even Arthur agrees with that and he doesn’t agree with much.”

They sat quietly for a while then Sidney asked, “are you good with our plans for the future? It’s going to be a big change.”

Charlotte put her wine down and turned into him, placing her hands on his cheeks. “I can’t imagine anything better,” she said as Sidney smiled. He knew it was a lot to ask that she stay in a town where there were so many harsh memories—and it was even more to ask for her to help turn it into a place she could love. “You and Babington and Esther—you’re going to create something amazing here and Sanditon will be that wonderful, friendly place again.”

“And you,” he said. “You, me, Babington and Esther—we’re creating this.”

“I know, it’s just that you all are funding it and,” she started, but Sidney interrupted.

“And you are the one with the beautiful, brilliant mind that will put this research facility on the map so we create something that can really help the oceans and the world. We are partners—equal partners, which is quite a deal for me,” he said as he laced his fingers around her waist and pulled her to him for a soft kiss.

Charlotte watched the sun disappear into the ocean as Sidney placed increasingly passionate kisses down her neck. She caressed his back as she remembered their first trip to the cove and how alone and hurt they both were, then smiled thinking about all they had become for each other since then and all they had yet to experience, together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for reading this story and again for all your encouragement—your comments mean so much. Edward and Clara will definitely go to jail and everyone else will have their HEA. I figured it was time to let Sidney and Charlotte go out and have a bright future vs. extending the turmoil (plus, I have to say I’m something of a nice person and it started to become a bit soul-numbing to write such mean people). I also wanted Stringer to get his criminals—he deserves to be a hero 😊. I learn a lot with everything I write and will try to get better. Thanks again and hope to see you soon.
> 
> BTW--if you have questions, I'll do my best to explain 😊 just ask.  
> BTW2--I did have Babington as Eliza's killer for an alternate ending. He'd just call a guy, of course--but I couldn't make him a killer! See, too nice.


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